Buffy Summers • Xander Harris • Willow Rosenberg • Rupert Giles • Cordelia Chase • Angel • Oz • Spike • Anya •
Riley Finn • Dawn Summers • Tara Maclay • The Master • Drusilla • Mayor Richard Wilkins III • Professor Maggie Walsh • Glory • Caleb • The First Evil • Joyce Summers • Jenny Calendar • Wesley Wyndam-Pryce • Principal Robin Wood •
Harmony Kendall • Faith Lehane • Kendra Young • Ethan Rayne • Notable villains •
Buffy Anne Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar)
The shows titular protagonist, Buffy is "The Slayer", one in a long line of young girls chosen by fate to battle evil forces in the form of vampires and demons. The Slayer has no jurisdiction over human crime. This calling mystically endows her with a limited degree of clairvoyance, usually in the form of prophetic dreams, as well as dramatically increased physical strength, endurance, agility, intuition, and speed and ease of healing. There traditionally has been only one Slayer alive at any given moment, with a new one called upon the event of her death.
Buffy Summers
Buffy Anne Summers is a fictional character from Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer franchise. She first appeared in the 1992 film Buffy the Vampire Slayer before going on to appear in the television series and subsequent comic book of the same name. The character has also appeared in the spin-off series Angel, as well as numerous non-canon expanded universe material, such as novels, comics, and video games. Buffy was portrayed by Kristy Swanson in the film, and later by Sarah Michelle Gellar in the television series. Giselle Loren has lent her voice to the character in both the Buffy video games and an unproduced animated series.
Buffy is the protagonist of the story, and the series depicts her life and adventures as she grows up. In the film, she is a high school cheerleader who learns that she is the Slayer (a Chosen One gifted with the strength and skills to fight vampires, demons, and the forces of darkness). The television series shows Buffy carrying out her destiny in a small town built atop a portal to hell (Hellmouth), surrounded by a group of friends and family who support her in her mission. In the comic book continuation, she is a young woman who has accepted her duties and is now responsible for training others like her. The character of Buffy was created to subvert the stereotypical female horror film victim; Whedon wanted to create a strong female cultural icon.
In season one (1997), Buffy begins to accept the responsibilities and dangers of her calling as the Slayer after moving to the small California town of Sunnydale. She becomes best friends with Xander Harris (Nicholas Brendon) and Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan), and meets her new Watcher, Rupert Giles (Anthony Stewart Head).[12] Together, they form the Scooby Gang, and work together to battle various supernatural occurrences which plague Sunnydale High. In the season finale, Buffy battles the villain known as the Master (Mark Metcalf), and is drowned in the process. She is resuscitated by Xander and rises to defeat the vampire.
In the show's second season (1997–1998), Buffy continues to come to terms with her destiny, finds forbidden love with benevolent vampire Angel (David Boreanaz), and clashes with new villains Spike (James Marsters) and Drusilla (Juliet Landau). In the episode "Surprise", Buffy loses her virginity to Angel, an event which triggers the loss of his soul and unleashes his sadistic alter-ego, Angelus. Angelus proceeds to subject the characters to mental and physical torture for the remainder of the season. In the final episode of season two, Buffy is forced to reveal her identity as the Slayer to her mother (Kristine Sutherland), and send the newly-good Angel to hell in order to save the world. She then leaves Sunnydale for Los Angeles in the hopes of escaping her life as the Slayer.
Season three sees Buffy reconnect to her calling, her friends, and her family after her departure, as well as make difficult life decisions regarding her relationship with the resurrected Angel. She must also deal with the introduction of rebellious new Slayer Faith (Eliza Dushku), who becomes increasingly destructive and disloyal over the course of the season. In the season finale, Buffy stabbed Faith in an attempt to save Angel's life, and lead her classmates into a climactic battle against the demonic Mayor of Sunnydale (Harry Groener). Angel then leaves Sunnydale in hopes Buffy can have a more normal life without him.
In the fourth season, Buffy balances her Slayer duties with her new life as a college student at UC Sunnydale. She experiences some difficulty adjusting to college life, and becomes increasingly disconnected from her friends, who all seem to be moving in different directions. Buffy eventually finds a new love interest in the form of Riley Finn (Marc Blucas), a soldier in the demon-hunting government task force known as the Initiative. She briefly joins forces with Riley's team, until they discover one of the Initiative's experiments, Adam (George Hertzberg), is creating an army of demon-human hybrids. Buffy literally unites with her friends to defeat Adam in a spell which invokes the power of the First Slayer.[17] During Buffy season four, Buffy also appears in the first season of spin-off series Angel (1999–2000), guest starring in the episodes "I Will Remember You" and "Sanctuary".
In season five, Buffy battles the hell-goddess Glory (Clare Kramer), and fully embraces her destiny for the first time. A younger sister named Dawn (Michelle Trachtenberg) mysteriously appears in Buffy's household, her existence having been seamlessly integrated with memories of the other characters. Buffy suffers emotional turmoil throughout this season, including the realization Dawn is not actually her sister, the deterioration of her relationship with Riley,[19] the discovery that Spike has become obsessed with her, and her mother's death from a brain aneurysm. While on a quest to learn more about her nature as the Slayer, Buffy is told "death is her gift, a message she has difficulty understanding until the episode "The Gift", in which she sacrifices her own life to save Dawn's by diving into Glory's interdimensional portal and closing it.
Season six depicts Buffy's struggle with depression and loss after being ripped out of a place like Heaven by her friends, who thinking she is trapped in a Hell dimension, perform a spell to bring her back from the dead. Forced to take a mundane and degrading job slinging burgers at the Doublemeat Palace, she begins suffering from extreme depression and self-loathing, embarking on a violent sexual relationship with the vampire Spike which leaves neither satisfied and spawns dire consequences for the both of them. As the season draws to a close, Buffy is forced to battle her best friend when Willow becomes psychotic with dark magics after the human, Warren (Adam Busch) shoots and kills Willow's girlfriend Tara (Amber Benson) and wounds Buffy in the process. Willow then tries to destroy the world to end all suffering, although Xander gets through to her in the end. Buffy then promises to change her self-destructive behavior in order to be there for her sister.
In the final season of the show, things start to come around for Buffy when Principal Robin Wood hires her as a school counselor for the newly-rebuilt Sunnydale High School and has repaired her relationships with Dawn and her friends. However, she is also confronted with the threat of the First Evil and becomes a reluctant leader to the Potential Slayers, who are initially respectful of her, but become increasingly more alienated by her tactics and decisions throughout the season. She unexpectedly becomes emotionally close with Spike, who has sought out his soul in an effort to prove himself to her. In the show's final episode "Chosen", Buffy shares her power with her fellow Slayers before leading them into an epic battle against an army of Turok-Han vampires. She also confesses her love to a disbelieving Spike before he sacrifices himself to save the world; as he dies, Buffy escapes Sunnydale's destruction with the surviving characters.
Alexander "Xander" LaVelle Harris (Nicholas Brendon)
Possessing no supernatural skills, Xander provides comic relief as well as a grounded, everyman perspective in the supernatural Buffyverse. In another departure from the usual conventions of television, Xander is notable for being an insecure and subordinate male in a world dominated by powerful females.
Alexander LaVelle "Xander" Harris is a fictional character created for the fantasy television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003). He was developed by Joss Whedon and portrayed throughout the television series by Nicholas Brendon and in two episodes by his twin brother, Kelly Donovan. He was conceived as an everyman and a male character for series heroine Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) to interact with, and to provide comic relief in the series. Xander is one of several friends of Buffy who assist her in saving the world against numerous supernatural events that plague Sunnydale, California, a town built over a doorway to hell.
Academic attention to the character has frequently come in the form of gender studies or with a focus on social class, reflecting Xander's working class home life and his fears of inadequacy. However, Xander's unique position as both outside of and within the main group enhances his insight into the other characters, especially as the series continues; in Season Eight, he is Buffy's unofficial "Watcher". As such, his character is noted for being the one who observes and sees everything rightly. Critics have noted that although Xander frequently exhibits a struggle of masculinity, his storylines often focus on his romantic conquests. Following his unrequited love for Buffy, these include the tumultuous relationship with rich girl Cordelia Chase (Charisma Carpenter), brief fling with his best friend Willow (Alyson Hannigan) prior to her coming out, and his long-term relationship with ex-demon Anya (Emma Caulfield). In Season Eight, the character's older-brother relationship with Buffy's little sister Dawn (Michelle Trachtenberg) also develops along romantic lines, too late for Buffy to realise her compatibility with Xander.
Xander Harris is introduced in season one's (1997) two-part premiere "Welcome to the Hellmouth"/"The Harvest". Xander meets Buffy Summers (Gellar), the Slayer, on her first day at Sunnydale High, as well as her Watcher Rupert Giles (Anthony Head). After his friend Jesse (Eric Balfour) is made a vampire, Xander accidentally kills him. Xander and his best friend Willow (Hannigan) become Buffy's reliable sidekicks. He pines for Buffy's romantic affection, oblivious to Willow's affections for him, and distrusts Buffy's boyfriend, the ensouled vampire Angel (David Boreanaz). In the season finale, "Prophecy Girl", Xander saves Buffy's life by administering CPR after she is drowned by the Master (Mark Metcalf). In season two (1997-8), Xander begins a turbulent and ambiguous relationship with popular girl Cordelia Chase (Carpenter) after they are thrown together in several life-or-death situations. Xander is turned into a soldier in the episode "Halloween", and retains extensive military knowledge and training thereafter; in "Innocence", this knowledge proves essential to helping Buffy defeat a demon known as The Judge who had been believed practically invincible. When Cordelia decides she needs to break up to preserve her social status, Xander coerces witch Amy Madison (Elizabeth Anne Allen) to cast a love spell, which misfires; Cordelia is unaffected but, seeing how much Xander loves her, reunites with him in defiance of her former friends, in "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered". The episode "Go Fish" focuses on Xander, after he joins the swim team to investigate the disappearances of Sunnydale High swimmers. In the season finale "Becoming, Part Two", Xander decides not to tell Buffy about Willow's plan to re-ensoul Angel—who has lost his soul and is going to bring about the apocalypse— so that she will not hesitate to kill him in order to save the world.
Season three (1998-9) begins with Xander and his friends slaying demons since Buffy ran away to Los Angeles. When Cordelia catches Xander kissing Willow in "Lovers Walk", she dumps him, this time permanently, though they ultimately part as friends. "The Zeppo" is a comedic episode focusing on Xander: the episode begins with Cordelia mocking him as a "loser", which upsets him. A solo adventure begins when the rest of the Scoobies insist he stay away from the dangerous fight with the Sisterhood of Jhe; he borrows his uncle's classic car, loses his virginity to mentally unstable rogue Slayer Faith (Eliza Dushku), and single-handedly stops Jack O'Toole and his fellow zombies from destroying Sunnydale High School. His calm handling of the crisis with O'Toole significantly enhances his self-confidence and, when again mocked by Cordelia, is unperturbed. Xander takes Anya (Caulfield), formerly vengeance demon Anyanka, to his prom in "The Prom", and his military training proves useful in defeating the evil Mayor (Harry Groener) in season finale "Graduation Day". In season four (1999–2000), Xander's feelings of inferiority and isolation increase, as he has not enrolled in college with his friends. Outside of the core group, Xander strengthens his relationship with Anya and the two eventually fall in love. In the season four climax "Primeval", Xander becomes the "heart" in the spell, which conjoins him with Buffy, Willow and Giles to defeat Adam (George Hertzberg), a part-demon, part-human, cyborg monster. Finale episode "Restless" delves into the characters' psyches through dream sequences; Xander's dream involves his erotic attraction to Buffy's mom (Kristine Sutherland), Willow and her girlfriend Tara (Amber Benson), his fear of his abusive father, and features a re-enactment of 1979 film Apocalypse Now.
In season five (2000-1), Xander matures; he becomes a carpenter and construction worker, and moves into his own apartment with Anya. He comes under the thrall of Dracula in premiere episode "Buffy vs. Dracula", becoming his Renfield. The episode "The Replacement" focuses on the two aspects of Xander: the emotionally sensible, driven man, and the comedic buffoon. Xander-centric episode "Triangle" sees him defend Willow and Anya equally from Anya's ex-boyfriend Olaf the Troll (Abraham Benrubi) when ordered to choose between them. In the season finale, he asks Anya to marry him; he uses a wrecking ball to assist Buffy in fighting the season's villain, hell-goddess Glory (Clare Kramer). In season six (2001-2), Xander and his friends resurrect Buffy; this has consequences, and Buffy sinks into depression. Xander's doubts about his future with Anya are expressed when he summons the all-singing demon Sweet (Hinton Battle), in the musical episode "Once More With Feeling". A demon exploits these fears in "Hell's Bells"; Xander leaves Anya heartbroken at the altar, and she returns to her old job as a vengeance demon. In the season finale, when a griefstricken Willow tries to end the world, only Xander's compassion and love for her is able to stop her. In season seven (2002-3), when Buffy's little sister Dawn (Michelle Trachtenberg) mistakenly believes herself to be a Potential Slayer, Xander empathizes with her disappointment over not being the one in the spotlight, in "Potential". Season seven episode "Conversations with Dead People" is the only Buffy episode in which Xander does not appear. In the episode "Dirty Girls", Xander's left eye is gouged out by the evil preacher Caleb (Nathan Fillion), and he begins wearing an eyepatch. Though he and Anya get back together, in the series finale, "Chosen", Anya is killed by a Bringer's sword. Andrew (Tom Lenk), the only witness to her death, tells him Anya died saving his life. Xander responds, "That's my girl. Always doing the stupid thing."
Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan)
Willow was originally a nerdy girl who contrasted Buffy's cheerleader personality but also shared the social isolation Buffy suffered after becoming a Slayer. As the series progressed, Willow became a more assertive and even sensual character; in particular, she became a lesbian and a powerful Wiccan. Willow is Buffy's best friend through everything that happens and maintains her humanity and kindness to others throughout.
Willow Danielle Rosenberg is a fictional character created for the fantasy television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She was developed by Joss Whedon and portrayed throughout the TV series by Alyson Hannigan. Willow plays an integral role within the inner circle of friends—later called the Scooby Gang—who support Buffy Summers, a teenager gifted with superhuman powers to defeat vampires, demons, and other evil in the fictional town of Sunnydale. The series begins as Buffy, Willow, and their friend Xander are in 10th grade and Willow is a shy and nerdy girl with little confidence. She has inherent magical abilities and begins to study witchcraft; as the series progresses, Willow becomes more sure of herself and her magical powers become significant if inconsistent. Her dependence on magic becomes so consuming that it develops into a dark force that takes her on a redemptive journey in a major story arc when she becomes the sixth season's main villain, threatening to destroy the world in a fit of grief and rage.
The Buffy series became extremely popular and earned a devoted fanbase; Willow's intelligence, shy nature, and vulnerability often resounded strongly with viewers in early seasons. Of the core characters, Willow changes the most, becoming a complex portrayal of a woman whose powers force her to seek balance between what is best for the people she loves and what she is capable of doing. Her character stood out as a positive portrayal of a Jewish woman and at the height of her popularity, she fell in love with another woman, a witch named Tara Maclay. They became one of the first lesbian couples on U.S. television and one of the most positive relationships of the series. In addition to being the only character other than Buffy herself to appear in every episode, Willow is featured in three episodes of the spinoff Angel, an animated series and video game (both of which use Hannigan's voice), and the comic Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight (2007–2011), which uses Hannigan's likeness and continues Willow's storyline following the television series.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (often simplified as Buffy) was originally conceived by Joss Whedon for a 1992 feature film. However, in its development Whedon felt it lost some of the quirkiness he considered was the heart of the project, and it was not received as well as he liked. He began to develop for television the concept of a fashion-conscious girl named Buffy, who is imbued with superhuman abilities and attends a high school situated on a portal to hell.[5] Whedon created a group of friends for the main character, including Willow Rosenberg and Xander Harris. A half-hour pilot was filmed starring Riff Regan as Willow, but it was eventually left unaired and network executives requested that Regan be replaced. Willow's character demanded that she be shy and unsure of herself, and the casting department encountered some difficulty finding actors who could portray this effectively and still be likable.[6] After seven auditions, 23-year-old Alyson Hannigan was hired for the role.[7] She was chosen for being able to spin the character's lines with a self-effacing optimism. She later stated in an interview, "I didn't want to do Willow as someone who's feeling sorry for herself. Especially in the first season, she couldn't talk to guys, and nobody liked her. I was like, 'I don't want to play somebody who's down on herself."[8]
In the beginning of the series, Hannigan used her own experiences in high school—which she called "overwhelmingly depressing"[8]—to guide her portrayal of Willow. "My theory on high school was, get in, get out and hopefully I won't get hurt. Basically it was a miserable experience, because you're a walking hormone in this place that is just so cruel. There were times that were OK, but it's not the little myth that high school is the best years of your life. No way."[9][10] Whedon intended Willow to be realistically introverted, saying "I wanted Willow to have that kind of insanely colorful interior life that truly shy people have. And Alyson has that. She definitely has a loopiness I found creeping into the way Willow talked, which was great. To an extent, all the actors conform to the way I write the character, but it really stands out in Willow's case."[11]
[edit] Television series (1997–2003)
[edit] Seasons 1–3
The Buffy television series first aired mid-season in March 1997, almost immediately earning positive critical reviews.[12][13] Willow is presented as a bookish nerd with considerable computer skills, dowdily dressed and easily intimidated by more popular girls in school. She grows faint at the sight of monsters, but quickly forms a friendship with Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and is revealed to have grown up as friends with Xander (Nicholas Brendon). They are mentored by the school librarian who is also Buffy's Watcher, Rupert Giles (Anthony Stewart Head), who often works closely with Willow in researching the various monsters the group encounters. Joss Whedon found that Hannigan was especially gifted reacting with fear (calling her the "king of pain") and viewers responded strongly when she was placed in danger, needing to be rescued by Buffy. Willow in various predicaments became common in early episodes.[14][15] However, Willow establishes herself as integral to the group's effectiveness, often willing to break rules by hacking into highly secure computer systems.[16]
In the second season when the characters are in 11th grade, Willow becomes more sure of herself, standing up to the conceited Cordelia Chase (Charisma Carpenter), and approaching Xander, on whom she has had a crush for years, although it is unrequited as Xander is in love with Buffy. Seth Green joined the cast during the second season as Oz, a high school senior who becomes a werewolf, and Willow's primary romantic interest. The show's popularity by early 1998 was evident to the cast members, and Hannigan remarked on her surprise specifically.[7] Willow was noted to be the spirit of the Scooby Gang, and Hannigan attributed Willow's popularity with viewers (she had by May 1998 seven websites devoted to her) to being an underdog who develops confidence and is accepted by Buffy, a strong, popular person in school.[10] Hannigan described her appeal: "Willow is the only reality-based character. She really is what a lot of high-schoolers are like, with that awkwardness and shyness, and all those adolescent feelings."[17]
At the end of the second season, Willow begins to study magic following the murder of the computer teacher and spell caster Jenny Calendar (Robia LaMorte). Willow is able to perform a complicated spell to restore the soul of Angel, a vampire who is also Calendar's murderer and Buffy's boyfriend. During the third season three episodes explore Willow's backstory and foreshadow her development. In "Gingerbread", her home life is made clearer: Sunnydale falls under the spell of a demon who throws the town's adults into a moral panic, and Willow's mother is portrayed as a career-obsessed academic who is unable to communicate with her daughter, eventually trying to burn Willow at the stake for being involved in witchcraft;[18] her father is never featured. In "The Wish" a vengeance demon named Anya (Emma Caulfield) grants Cordelia's wish that Buffy never came to Sunnydale, showing what would happen if it were overrun with vampires. In this alternate reality, Willow is an aggressively bisexual vampire. In a related episode, "Doppelgangland", Willow meets "Vamp Willow", who dresses provocatively and flirts with her.
[edit] Seasons 4–6
Willow chooses to attend college with Buffy in Sunnydale although she is accepted to prestigious schools elsewhere. Her relationships with Buffy and Xander become strained as they try to find their place following high school. Willow becomes much more confident in college, finally finding a place that respects her intellect, while Buffy has difficulty in classes and Xander does not attend school. Willow's relationship with Oz continues until he becomes involved with another werewolf and leaves town to learn how to control the wolf within. She becomes depressed and explores magic more deeply, often with powerful but inconsistent results. Her grief reaches such a point that she's offered a chance to replace Anya as the vengeance demon of scorned women. She joins the campus Wicca group, meeting Tara Maclay, eventually falling in love with and choosing to be with her even when Oz returns to Sunnydale after getting his lycanthropic tendencies under control.
Each season the Scoobies face a villain they call the Big Bad. In the fifth season, this becomes a goddess named Glory (Clare Kramer) that Buffy is unable to fight by herself. The writers of the series often use elements of fantasy and horror as metaphors for real-life conflicts. The series' use of magic, as noted by religion professor Gregory Stevenson, neither promotes nor denigrates Wiccan ideals and Willow rejects Wiccan colleagues for not practicing the magic she favors. Throughout the series, magic is employed to represent different ideas—relationships, sexuality, ostracism, power, and particularly for Willow, addiction—that change between episodes and seasons. The ethical judgment of magic, therefore, lies in the results: performing magic to meet selfish needs or neglecting to appreciate its power often ends disastrously. Using it wisely for altruistic reasons is considered a positive act on the series.[21] Through witchcraft, Willow becomes the only member of the group to cause damage to Glory. She reveals that the spells she casts are physically demanding, giving her headaches and nosebleeds. When Glory assaults Tara, making her insane, Willow, in a magical rage that causes her eyes to turn black, finds Glory and battles her. She does not come from the battle unscathed and must be assisted by Buffy, but her power is evident and surprising to her friends. The final episode of the fifth season sees Willow restoring Tara's sanity and crucially weakening Glory in the process. It also features Buffy's death, sacrificing herself to save the world.[22] Willow subsequently appears in the season finale of Buffy spin-off Angel to deliver the sad news to her ex-boyfriend, Angel.
Willow and Tara move into the Summers house and raise Buffy's younger sister Dawn (Michelle Trachtenberg). Fearing that Buffy is in hell, Willow suggests at the beginning of the sixth season that she be raised from the dead. In a dark ceremony in which she expels a snake from her mouth, Willow performs the magic necessary to bring Buffy back. She is successful, but Buffy keeps it secret that she believes she was in heaven. Willow's powers grow stronger; she uses telepathy which her friends find intrusive, and she begins to cast spells to manipulate Tara. After failing Tara's challenge to go for one week without performing magic, Tara leaves Willow, and for two episodes Willow descends into addiction that almost kills Dawn. Willow goes for months without any magic, helping Buffy track three geeks called The Trio who grandiosely aspire to be supervillains. Immediately following a reconciliation with Tara, Warren (Adam Busch), one of the Trio, shoots Buffy and a stray shot kills Tara. In an explosion of rage and grief, Willow soaks up all the dark magic text she can, turning her hair and eyes black. In the final episodes of the season Willow becomes exceedingly strong, surviving unharmed when Warren hits her in the back with an axe. She hunts Warren, tortures him and magically flays him, apparently fatally. Unsatisfied, she attempts to kill the other two members of the Trio and, unsuccessful at this, tries to destroy the world, only to be stopped by Xander.
[edit] Season 7
Scared by her own power, the seventh season starts with Willow in England, studying with a coven near Giles' home learning to understand the depth of her power and to harness it for good, rather than destruction. She fears returning to Sunnydale and what she is capable of doing. Through the season, Willow worries that she may lose control and attack her friends. Buffy and the Scoobies face the First Evil, bent on ending the Slayer line and destroying the world. Potential Slayers from around the globe congregate at Buffy's home and she trains them to battle the First Evil. Willow continues to face her grief over Tara's death and becomes involved with one of the Potentials, Kennedy (Iyari Limon). In the final episode of the series, "Chosen", Buffy calls upon Willow to perform the most powerful spell she has ever attempted. With Kennedy nearby, cautioned to kill her if she becomes out of control, Willow 'activates' every Potential Slayer in the world, causing them to become Slayers themselves. The spell momentarily turns her hair white, and it ensures that Buffy and the Potentials defeat the First Evil. Willow is able to escape with Buffy, Xander, Giles, and Kennedy as Sunnydale is destroyed.
Through the gamut of changes Willow endures in the series, Buffy studies scholar Ian Shuttleworth states that Alyson Hannigan's performances are the reason for Willow's popularity: "Hannigan can play on audience heartstrings like a concert harpist... As an actress she is a perfect interpreter in particular of the bare emotional directness which is the specialty of [series writer Marti] Noxon on form."
[edit] Dark Willow
A shadow of Dark Willow appears to fight Glory in the fifth season episode "Tough Love", but she does not come into full force until the sixth season in "Villains", "Two to Go", and "Grave". The transition from Willow into Dark Willow, precipitated by Tara's immediate death when she is shot through the heart, was ambiguously received by audiences, many of whom never foresaw Willow's psychic break. It was simultaneously lauded for being an overwhelming depiction of a powerful woman, and derided as representative of a worn cliché that lesbians are amoral and murderous.[42][43] She changes visually when she walks into the Magic Box, a store owned by Anya and Giles, telekinetically retrieves dozens of dark magic books from the shelves, and leeches the words from the pages with her fingertips. As the words crawl up her arms and soak into her skin, her eyes and hair become black and her posture "aggressively aware and confident".[44]
Susan Driver writes that it is "crucial to recognize that never before in a teen series has raw fury been so vividly explored through a young queer girl responding to the sudden death of her lover".[45] Dark Willow is preternaturally focused on revenge, relentless and unstoppable. Lights explode when she walks past. She forcefully takes advantage of any opportunity to further her goals. She saves Buffy by removing the bullet from her chest, but later commandeers a tractor trailer, making it slam into Xander's car while he and Buffy are inside protecting Jonathan and Andrew, the other two members of the Trio. She floats, teleports herself at will, and dismantles the local jail where Jonathan and Andrew are held. She is cruelly honest to Dawn and Buffy, and overpowers everyone with whom she comes in contact. When she takes Giles' magic from him, she gains the ability to feel the world's pain, becoming determined to put the world out of its misery. She does not acknowledge her grief, and only Xander can force her to face it when he tells her that he loves her no matter what or who she is, and if she is determined to end the world she must start by killing him. Only then does Willow return, sobbing.[46]
Following the sixth season, Willow struggles to allow herself to perform magic without the darkness within her taking her over. She is no longer able to abstain from magic as it is such an integral part of her that doing so will kill her. In the instances when she is highly emotional the darkness comes out. Willow must control that part of her and is occasionally unable to do so, giving her a trait similar to Angel, a cursed vampire who fears losing his soul will turn him evil. In a redemptive turn, when Willow turns all the Potentials into Slayers, she glows and her hair turns white, astonishing Kennedy and prompting her to call Willow a goddess.[51] Her dark side continues to be a part of Willow. A story arc in Season Eight has Buffy travel 200 years into the future to battle and kill Dark Willow. Present-day Willow is aware of her capabilities, ever watchful of what she may turn into. In her Season Nine miniseries Wonderland, Willow is liberated by the realization that that Dark Willow is not a separate persona for her but simply the dark side of her own nature, which she must learn to accept and control.
[edit] Relationships
Willow's earliest and most consistent relationships are with Buffy and Xander, both of whom she refers to as her best friends although they have their conflicts. Willow takes on the leadership role when Buffy is unavailable, and her growing powers sometimes make her resent being positioned as Buffy's sidekick. Some scholars see Willow as Buffy's sister-figure or the anti-Buffy, similar to Faith, another Slayer whose morals are less strict.[52] In early seasons, Willow's unrequited crush on Xander creates some storylines involving the relationships between Xander, Cordelia, and Oz. Willow is part of a powerful quartet: she represents the spirit, Giles intelligence, Xander heart, and Buffy strength of the Scoobies. Although they often drift apart, they are forced to come together and work in these roles to defeat forces they are unable to fight individually.[53]
[edit] Oz
Main article: Oz (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
Willow meets stoic Oz in the second season. Their courtship is slow and patient.
Oz is bitten by a werewolf, and just as Willow begins to confront him about why
he does not spend time with her, he transforms and attacks her. She must shoot
him with a tranquilizer gun several times while he is wild, but her
assertiveness in doing so makes her more confident in their relationship.[54]
Oz's trials in dealing with a power he cannot control is, according to authors
J. Michael Richardson and J. Douglas Rabb, a model for Willow to reference when
she encounters her own attraction to evil.[55] When Willow and Oz decide to
commit to each other, Willow is enthusiastic that she has a boyfriend, and, as a
guitarist in a band, one so cool.[56] Her relationship with Oz endures the high
school storylines of exploring her attraction to Xander, which briefly separates
them. She worries that she is not as close to Oz as she could be. They stay
together through graduation into college, but Oz is drawn to Veruca, another
werewolf. He admits an animal attraction to Veruca, which he does not share with
Willow. He sleeps with Veruca and leaves shortly after to explore the werewolf
part of himself. Willow becomes very depressed and doubts herself. She drinks,
her magical abilities are compromised, her spells come out wrong, and she lashes
out at her friends when they suggest she get over it ("Something Blue").[57][58]
Joss Whedon did not intend to write Oz out of the series. Seth Green came to
Whedon early in the fourth season to announce that he wished to work on his film
career. Whedon admitted he was upset by Green's announcement and that if he had
wanted to continue, Oz would have been a part of the story. However, to resolve
the relationship between Oz and Willow Whedon says, "we had to scramble. And out
of the heavens came Amber Benson."[59]
[edit] Tara Maclay
Main article: Tara Maclay
Willow and Tara's first on-screen kiss did not occur until the fifth season
episode "The Body" in a story that diverted attention away from the display.
Buffy earned international attention for its unflinching focus on the
relationship between Willow and Tara Maclay. Whedon and the writing staff had
been considering developing a story arc in which a character explores his or her
sexuality as the Scoobies left high school, but no particular effort was made to
assign this arc to Willow. In 1999, at the end of the third season, the Boston
Herald called Buffy "the most gay show on network TV this year" despite having
no overtly gay characters among the core cast. It simply presented storylines
that resembled coming out stories.[60] In the fourth season episode "Hush",
Willow meets Tara, and to avoid being killed by a group of ghouls, they join
hands to move a large vending machine telekinetically to barricade a door. The
scene was, upon completion, noticeably sensual to Whedon, the producers, and
network executives, who encouraged Whedon to develop a romantic storyline
between Willow and Tara, but at the same time placed barriers on how far it
could go and what could be shown.[61][62] Two episodes later, Hannigan and Amber
Benson were informed that their characters would become romantically involved.
The actors were not told the end result of the Willow–Oz–Tara storyline, not
sure what the eventual trajectory of the relationship would be, until Hannigan
said, "Then finally it was, 'Great! It's official. We're in luurrvvve.'"[63]
Whedon made a conscious effort to focus on Willow and Tara's relationship
instead of either's identity as a lesbian or the coming out process. When Willow
discloses to Buffy what she feels for Tara, she indicates that she has fallen in
love with Tara, not that she is a lesbian, and avoids categorizing herself. Some
critics regard this as a failure on Willow's part to be strong;[64] Em McAvan
interprets this to mean that Willow may be bisexual.[65] Scholar Farah
Mendlesohn asserts that Willow's realization that she is in love with Tara
allows viewers to re-interpret Willow's relationship with Buffy; in the first
three seasons, Willow is often disappointed that she is not a higher priority to
Buffy, and even after Willow enters a relationship with Tara, still desires to
feel integral to Buffy's cause and the Scooby Gang.[66]
Willow's progression has been noted to be unique in television. Her relationship
with Tara coincides with the development of her magical abilities becoming much
more profound. By the seventh season, she is the most powerful person in Buffy's
circle. Jessica Ford at PopMatters asserts that Willow's sexuality and her
magical abilities are connected and represented by her relationships. In her
unrequited attraction to Xander, she has no power. With Oz, she has some that
gives her the confidence she sorely lacks, but his departure leaves her unsure
of herself. Only when she meets Tara do her magical abilities flourish; to Ford,
sexuality and magic are both empowering agents in Willow's story arc.[67] David
Bianculli in the New York Daily News writes that Willow's progression is "unlike
anything else I can recall on regular prime-time television: a character
evolving naturally over four seasons of stories and arriving at a place of
sexual rediscovery".[68]
Not all viewers considered Willow and Tara's relationship a positive
development. Some fans loyal to Willow reacted angrily as she chose to be with
Tara when Oz made himself available, and they lashed out at Tara and Amber
Benson on the fansite message boards. Whedon replied sardonically, "we're going
to shift away from this whole lifestyle choice that Willow has made. Just wipe
the slate. From now on, Willow will no longer be a Jew. And I think we can all
breathe easier." However, he seriously explained his motivation, writing "My
show is about emotion. Love is the most powerful, messy, delightful and
dangerous emotion... Willow's in love. I think it's cool."[59] Hannigan was also
positive about the way the character and her relationship with Tara was written:
"It is not about being controversial or making a statement. I think the show is
handling it really nicely. It's about two people who care about each other."[69]
Contrasting with some of the more sexual relationships of the other characters,
Willow and Tara demonstrate a sentimental, soft, and consistent affection for
each other. Some of this was pragmatic: the show was restricted in what it could
present to viewers. Willow and Tara did not kiss until the fifth season in an
episode that diverted the focus away from the display of affection when Buffy's
mother dies in "The Body". Before this, much of their sexuality is represented
by allusions to witchcraft; spells doubled for physical affection such as an
erotic ritual in "Who Are You?" where Willow and Tara chant and perspire in a
circle of light until Willow falls back on a pillow gasping and moaning.[note 2]
Within the Buffy universe, magic is portrayed in a mostly female realm. As
opposed to it being evil, it is an earth-bound force that is most proficiently
harvested by women.[67] The treatment of the lesbian relationship as integral to
magic, representative of each other (love is magic, magic is love), earned the
series some critical commentary from conservative Christians.[55] To avoid
large-scale criticism, scenes had to be shot several different ways because
censors would not allow some types of action on screen. In the fourth and fifth
seasons, the characters could be shown on a bed, but not under the covers.
Hannigan noted the inconsistent standards with the other relationships on the
show: "you've got Spike and Harmony just going at it like rabbits, so it's very
hypocritical".[70] As a couple, Willow and Tara are treated by the rest of the
Scoobies with acceptance and little fanfare. Susan Driver writes that younger
viewers especially appreciate that Willow and Tara are able to be affectionate
without becoming overly sexual, thus making them objects of fantasy for male
enjoyment. Willow and Tara's influence on specifically younger female viewers
is, according to Driver, "remarkable".[71]
Academics, however, comment that Willow is a less sexual character than the
others in the show. She is displayed as "cuddly" in earlier seasons, often
dressing in pink fuzzy sweaters resulting in an innocent tomboyishness. She
becomes more feminine in her relationship with Tara, who is already feminine; no
issues with gender are present in their union. Their relationship is
sanitized and unthreatening to male viewers. When the series moved broadcast
networks from the WB to UPN in 2001, some of the restrictions were relaxed.
Willow and Tara are shown in some scenes to be "intensely sexual", such as in
the sixth season episode "Once More, with Feeling" where it is visually implied
that Willow performs cunnilingus on Tara. When Willow and Tara reconcile,
they spend part of the episode in "Seeing Red" unclothed in bed, covered by red
sheets.
Willow is more demonstrative in the beginning of her relationship with Tara.
Where in her relationship with Oz she described herself as belonging to him,
Tara states that she belongs to Willow. Willow finds in Tara a place where she
can be the focus of Tara's attention, not having to appease or sacrifice as she
has in the past. Tara, however, eclipses Willow's role as the moral center of
the Scoobies, and as Willow becomes more powerful and less ethical, Tara becomes
a maternal figure for the group. Willow acts as a sort of middle child
between Xander's immaturity and Buffy's weighty responsibilities. She becomes
completely devoted to and enamored of Tara, and then manipulates her to avoid
conflict when Tara does not conform to what she wants. Displeased with how
Willow abuses her power, especially toward herself, Tara leaves Willow while
continuing to counsel Dawn and Buffy.
Kennedy
Kennedy is markedly different from
Tara. She is younger, outspoken, and aggressively pursues Willow, who hesitates
to become involved again. When they first kiss in the episode "The Killer in
Me", Willow's realization that she let Tara go reacts with a curse put upon her
by another witch named Amy Madison (Elizabeth Anne Allen), turning Willow into
Warren, Tara's murderer. The spell is broken when Willow acknowledges her guilt
and Kennedy kisses her again. Kennedy expresses that she does not understand the
value of magic and assumes it involves tricks, not the all-consuming energy that
Willow is capable of. When Willow eventually exhibits what power she has, it
briefly frightens Kennedy. Willow worries about becoming sexually intimate with
Kennedy, unsure of what may transpire if she loses control of herself.
Rupert Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) (1.01–5.22, recurring afterward)
Giles, rarely referred to by his first name, is a Watcher and a member of the Watchers' Council, whose job is to train Slayers. In the earlier seasons, Giles researched the supernatural creatures that Buffy must face, offered insights into their origins and advice on how to kill them. Throughout the series, he became a father-figure to Buffy, Willow, Xander, and the others, giving them advice not only on the supernatural world, but on life issues as well.
Giles's primary role in the series is Watcher to Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) in her capacity as vampire Slayer; he is in the employ of the Watchers' Council, a British organization that attempts to oversee the actions of the Slayer. From youth, Giles was expected to follow the family tradition and become a Watcher, though as a teenager and young adult he rebelled, dropping out of Oxford University to experiment in dark magic and the rock music scene, until a bereavement brought him to his senses. In adulthood, his loyalty to Buffy and her group of friends costs him his job for a time. As the series progresses, Giles increasingly becomes a father figure to Buffy and her friends Willow (Alyson Hannigan) and Xander (Nicholas Brendon). His encyclopedic knowledge, affinity for magic, moderate fighting skills and willingness to kill make him an asset to Buffy in her fight against the supernatural evils that plague Sunnydale, California.
Rupert Edmund Giles (most frequently called Giles) was born circa 1955 in England. His family has worked within the Council of Watchers for at least three generations; both his father and grandmother, Edna Giles, were also Watchers. As a child, Giles dreamed of being either "a fighter pilot or possibly a grocer", but he soon learned that being a Watcher is a calling, much as being a Slayer is, and Rupert's father explained his destiny to him when he was ten years old (revealed in "Never Kill a Boy on the First Date").
Although the Scooby Gang later joked that he wore tweed diapers as a child, Giles was in fact a rebellious youth, rejecting his responsibility as a Watcher and dropping out of Oxford University, where he was studying history, when he was twenty-one. During this time, Giles claimed to be a founding member of Pink Floyd in order to impress girls (although since Pink Floyd was founded in 1965, when Giles would have been around ten years old, it was not a particularly credible claim), and may have delved into criminal activity (he remarks that hot-wiring a car is "like riding a bloody bicycle", and a psychologically younger Giles has no qualms about breaking into a clothing store and attacking a police officer). He is a talented singer and guitar player (as Head is in real life) which the gang discovered, to their astonishment, when they saw him singing "Behind Blue Eyes" by The Who in "Where the Wild Things Are". Spike also saw him singing "Free Bird" by Lynyrd Skynyrd in "The Yoko Factor".
He began to explore dark magic and befriended a group of young people who delved into the dark arts for fun or money: Ethan Rayne, Philip Henry, Dierdre Page, Thomas Sutcliff, and Randall. Giles gained the nickname "Ripper" during this time. Together, the group summoned a particularly grotesque demon called Eyghon, who would eventually murder Randall. Following Randall's death, Ethan and the others failed to exorcise Eyghon, and Giles accepted his destiny of becoming a Watcher. Before becoming a fully-fledged Watcher, he also worked as "the curator of a British museum, maybe the British Museum" as Willow says ("Welcome to the Hellmouth"), although, given the context, she may well have been repeating a rumor that was going around the school.
[edit] Sunnydale
At the behest of the Watchers' Council, Giles travels to Sunnydale, California, and works as the librarian at the local high school. There he meets the current Slayer, Buffy Summers, whom he begins training. The library, a sort of command center for Buffy's demon-hunting gang, sits right above the Hellmouth.
As the Watcher, librarian, and general authority figure, Giles often delivers
exposition. He is a father figure to Buffy and an advisor to her friends Xander
Harris and Willow Rosenberg, together forming the "core four" of the Scooby
Gang. Giles is often portrayed as something of a "straight man" and his "stuffy"
Oxford sensibility serves as counterpoint to the stereotypical Southern
Californian characters and setting. He makes a "weird cluck-cluck sound with his
tongue" when he is angry but is "too English to say anything" ("Faith, Hope &
Trick"). He admits to being technophobic, a fact which often brings him into
conflict with technopagan and computer science teacher, Jenny Calendar. However,
after Jenny aids him in casting the demon Moloch out of the Internet, the pair
reach an understanding and begin a romantic relationship. Despite his apparent
fear of technology, Giles is quite adept with computers ("Gingerbread").
In Season Two, Giles's dark side is revealed and his relationship with Jenny
deepens. In "The Dark Age", Ethan Rayne comes to Sunnydale to flee the demon
Eyghon. Giles ashamedly admits to Buffy that he was responsible for summoning
the demon in his youth, and is horrified when Jenny becomes possessed by Eyghon.
Although Eyghon is defeated, Jenny takes time to cope with her ordeal, remaining
distant from Giles in the meantime. When new Slayer Kendra Young arrives in
Sunnydale, Giles shares with her an appreciation for obscure texts, resulting in
Buffy nicknaming her the "She-Giles." Giles feels betrayed when Jenny reveals
she is actually a member of the Kalderash gypsy clan, sent to keep an eye on
Buffy's relationship with the vampire Angel. When Angel loses his soul and
murders Jenny, leaving her corpse for Giles to find in his apartment
("Passion"), Giles seeks revenge by burning down Angelus' home. Angelus later
kidnaps and tortures him, and Drusilla hypnotizes him into thinking she is Jenny
so he will reveal how to awake Acathla. Buffy is forced to kill Angel to save
the world, despite Willow's restoring his soul, and subsequently leaves
Sunnydale.
In Season Three, Giles's paternal feelings for Buffy strengthen significantly.
He spends the summer desperately following up every clue as to Buffy's
whereabouts, and is overjoyed when she finally returns months later. Giles
briefly serves as Watcher for Kendra's replacement Slayer, Faith Lehane. The
Scoobies are given another disturbing glimpse in Giles' past when, along with
every other adult in Sunnydale, he reverts to being a teenager by enchanted band
candy supplied by Ethan Rayne. He indulges in theft and vandalism, and makes out
with and has sex with Buffy's mother, Joyce Summers. When Buffy keeps Angel's
return from hell a secret from the other Scoobies, Giles feels betrayed by her
love for the man who tortured him and murdered Jenny, but later agrees to help
Angel in "Amends".
As Buffy's Cruciamentum approaches (a brutal tradition of the Watchers' Council
in which a depowered Slayer is forced to battle a particularly dangerous vampire
using only her wits), Giles struggles to cope with the guilt of betraying
Buffy's trust. Despite describing the test as "an archaic exercise in cruelty",
he secretly injects Buffy with muscle relaxants and adrenaline suppressors,
which weaken her significantly, before finally coming clean when the vampire she
is meant to fight escapes. Buffy is disgusted, but is later moved when Giles
interferes to save her life and is subsequently dismissed for having a father's
love for her. Giles is fired, and replaced with Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, but
continues to act as Buffy's unofficial Watcher, proving especially helpful when
Wesley turns out to be an incompetent coward. When Buffy briefly finds herself
endowed with telepathic powers, she 'hears' her mother remembering that Giles
was "like a stevedore" during sex. In a battle with the demonic Mayor of
Sunnydale, Giles presses the trigger which destroys the Mayor and Sunnydale
High, putting himself out of a job.
In Season Four, Giles must cope with unemployment and a growing awareness that
Buffy no longer needs him. He continues a sexual relationship with his old
friend Olivia. Lacking a sense of purpose, he spends most of his time lounging
around his apartment, watching Passions with Spike. He gets depressed,
especially when the Scoobies fail to keep him in the loop regarding Buffy's new
boyfriend Riley Finn and his membership in the Initiative. In the episode
"Something Blue", Giles becomes blind as a result of a faulty spell cast by
Willow Rosenberg. When Ethan Rayne casts a spell on Giles which turns him into a
Fyarl demon ("A New Man"), he must enlist Spike's help to escape the Initiative
and Buffy, which believes him to be a demon who murdered Giles. Buffy, about to
kill him, at the last moment recognizes his eyes and "annoyed" expression, and
Ethan is taken into custody by the Initiative. In order to defeat the
cyber-demonoid Adam, Buffy, Willow, Xander and Giles cast a spell to combine
their strength. Giles provides the "mind," and Buffy is able to defeat Adam.
At the beginning of Season Five, Giles no longer sees his place in Sunnydale and
decides to go back to England, telling no one except Willow, whom he needs to
organize the research documents for the Scoobies. He quickly abandons this
decision when Buffy asks him to be her Watcher again, confessing that she needs
him, both emotionally and in order to discover more about what being a Slayer
means.
When the owner of The Magic Box is killed by vampires, Giles is convinced by the
shop's high profit margins to buy it, hiring Anya as his overly enthusiastic
assistant. Buffy learns that her sister, Dawn Summers, is actually the Key:
mystical energy disguised in human form to conceal it from the hell-god Glory.
Buffy initially confides only in Giles about Dawn's true nature, and he decides
to contact the Watchers' Council for more information about Glory. In
"Checkpoint", Quentin Travers tries to coerce Buffy to obey the Council's
demands, by threatening to have Giles deported. Buffy stands up to the Council,
pointing out that without her there's no need for a Council, and tells them to
give her all information concerning Glory and to reinstate Giles as her official
Watcher. Travers reluctantly agrees, and leaves.
As the Scoobies labor to find a way to defeat Glory, Giles brings up the
difficult idea of killing Dawn to end Glory's plans to take over the world.
Buffy vows to protect Dawn at all costs. Glory shares her body with an innocent
human named Ben, and can be killed if Ben dies. In the final battle against
Glory, Buffy abandons the fight when Glory turns back into a wounded Ben, so
that she can save Dawn. Giles is less merciful. Explaining that Buffy is a hero
and therefore different from the rest of humanity, he suffocates Ben with his
bare hands ("The Gift").
Season Six sees Giles reluctantly stepping back to allow Buffy to gain
independence. One hundred and forty-seven days after her death, Giles decides to
return to England. On the very day he leaves, Willow, Xander, Anya and Tara
resurrect Buffy, and he comes back as soon as he hears of this. Despite being
overjoyed to have Buffy back, he is furious at Willow for invoking such dark
magic, and angrily dismisses her as "a rank, arrogant amateur." While the other
Scoobies believe Buffy was in Hell, Giles is not convinced, and his suspicions
prove true when a demon's musical spell causes Buffy to reveal to them all that
she was indeed in Heaven. As Buffy begins to rely excessively on Giles for
financial and emotional support, he decides his presence is preventing her
assuming responsibility for her life. He leaves again for his native England,
moving to a place near Bath, where he works with a powerful local coven.
A few months later, Tara is killed by a stray bullet as Warren Mears attacks
Buffy. Willow, still recovering from an addiction to magic, suffers a relapse,
kills Warren and attempts to kill his former partners in crime, before resolving
to end humanity's pain (and her own) by destroying the world. Hearing of a dark
power rising in Sunnydale, Giles teleports back there, wielding great magical
power borrowed from the Devon Coven. As Dark Willow boasts of her
indestructibility, Giles knocks her to the floor with a blast of magic energy,
saying "I'd like to test that theory" ("Two to Go"). After being filled in on
everything that has happened to the Scoobies in his absence, Giles apologizes to
Buffy, insisting that he never should have left them, but Buffy assures him that
he did the right thing. Knowing that Willow is too strong to defeat, he tricks
her into draining him of his white magics, which brings him near death. It also
allows Xander to reason with Willow as the good magic brings out her natural
love and compassion, eating away at the evil within her. Giles returns to
England with Willow for her rehabilitation. A few months later, he brings
Potential Slayers to Sunnydale to protect them from the First Evil and its
Bringers. Giles had removed a few volumes from the headquarters of the Watchers'
Council, which is soon afterward destroyed by Caleb, an agent of the First. An
injured Watcher named Robson witnessed Giles about to be decapitated by a
Bringer before blacking out. When the Scoobies hear about this, they worry that
Giles may have been killed and the First is merely impersonating him. They are
relieved when Anya, Dawn, Xander and Andrew tackle him to the ground, proving he
is corporeal and therefore not the First. Giles later loses Buffy's trust
somewhat when he takes part in a scheme with Robin Wood to kill Spike ("Lies My
Parents Told Me"). Buffy tells him, "I think you've taught me everything I need
to know." Giles believes that Buffy kept Spike around for personal reasons
rather than tactical ones; this is confirmed when she talks to Spike the night
before the final battle under the Hellmouth. In the series finale, Giles
participates in the battle of the Hellmouth, and survives.
In season five of Angel, Angel contacts Giles via phone twice. It is established
that, after the events of "Chosen", Giles travels to Europe with Buffy to train
new Slayers. He also takes Andrew Wells under his wing, training him to be a
Watcher. In "Damage", Andrew claims to be "faster, stronger and 82% more manly"
as a result of Giles' mentoring. Later in "A Hole in the World", after Fred
dies, Angel phones Giles, desperate to get in contact with Willow, who cannot be
located. After Angel confirms that he still works for Wolfram & Hart, Giles
coldly hangs up on him. Originally, Giles was to appear in "A Hole in the World"
as the one whom Angel and Spike approached in an attempt to save Fred, because
Whedon needed a character who would be instantly believed (by the characters and
by the audience) when he said there was no way to save Fred. As it was too
expensive for Anthony Stewart Head to fly out to Los Angeles to guest-star,
Whedon created Drogyn the Battlebrand, who was mystically compelled to tell the
truth.
[edit] Powers and abilities
Giles has extensive knowledge of demonology and Slayer combat (including at
least a theoretical knowledge of jujutsu and aikido, but excelling at the art of
fencing), mainly due to his training as a Watcher. His youthful interest in
witchcraft and sorcery has endured into his adult life; though his natural
aptitude for it is only moderate (much less than that of Willow), he does have a
high amount of magical knowledge. Giles is proficient in several languages,
including Latin, ancient Greek, Sumerian ("Primeval"), Japanese ("Checkpoint"),
and possibly Gaelic ("Fear, Itself"), but weak in German ("Gingerbread"),
Mandarin and Cantonese ("First Date"). While he has no prominent supernatural
powers of his own, his extensive experience with dealing with vampires, demons,
and other creatures makes him capable of handling them effectively.
Giles has moderate skill in hand-to-hand combat, as well as various melee weapons. While his demeanor is typically mild and polite, Giles is not above using raw violence to solve a problem, such as physically threatening Principal Snyder into readmitting Buffy to school after her expulsion ("Dead Man's Party"), pummeling Angelus senseless with a flaming baseball bat and burning down his hideout upon discovering that he had killed Jenny Calendar ("Passion"), manhandling Spike while ordering him to get over his feelings for Buffy ("I Was Made to Love You"), forcing Glory's minion Slook to talk by inflicting a painful-sounding injury offscreen ("Tough Love"), severely beating up Ethan Rayne for information ("Halloween"), and suffocating a critically injured Ben with his bare hands to keep Glory from awakening in his body. ("The Gift"). Typically, however, Giles' calm demeanor and professionalism offer him a detached state of authority even in the face of fearsome monsters, as demonstrated during his confrontation with a violent demon in "The Long Way Home". He is also shown to be able to quickly hotwire a car in the episode "Dead Man's Party".
In the season six finale, Giles was temporarily endowed with powers of the Devon Coven in an attempt to stop Willow. During this time, he demonstrated powers such as teleportation, telekinesis, and energy projection. He lost all of these powers when Willow drained him and left him on the brink of death, but he recovered immediately after Xander calmed her down from her rampage. His moderate proficiency in magic combined with his natural acumen and intelligence still make him quite formidable; in Season Eight's "No Future for You", he kills the warlock Roden, who could fly and conjure easily, through using a spell inventively.
Despite his vast intelligence, Giles is not what one would call technology-savvy and is, by his own admission, somewhat technophobic.
Cordelia Chase (Charisma Carpenter) (1.01–3.22)
Cordelia is originally an archetypal popular, shallow, mean-spirited cheerleader. She is tactless, but direct and honest, and she becomes a reluctant ally of the Scooby Gang, even after her relationship with Xander disintegrates. After season 3, she joins Angel in L.A., where she abandons her attempts at acting to fight evil at his side.
Cordelia Chase
Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel character
Producers sought Carpenter for a final appearance in the 100th episode of Angel
(pictured above) to return the show and its characters to their "original
concerns".
First appearance
"Welcome to the Hellmouth" (Buffy, 1997)
Created by
Joss Whedon
Portrayed by
Charisma Carpenter
Information
Affiliation
Scooby Gang
Angel Investigations
The Powers That Be
Notable powers
Precognitive visions
Cordelia Chase is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the
television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer; she also appeared on Buffy's
spin-off series Angel. Portrayed by Charisma Carpenter, the character appears as
a series regular in the first three seasons of Buffy, before exiting the show
and becoming a series regular during the first four seasons of Angel. The
character made her last television appearance in 2004, appearing as a special
guest star in Angel's one hundredth episode. Cordelia also appears in both
canonical and apocryphal Buffy and Angel material such as comic books and
novels.
Cordelia is introduced in "Welcome to the Hellmouth" as one of Sunnydale High's
popular cheerleaders, attending school alongside vampire slayer Buffy Summers.
Through her interactions with Buffy and her friends, she comes to accept the
existence of supernatural forces and helps Buffy fight against them. In the
television series Angel, Cordelia joins Angel, a heroic vampire with a soul, in
forming a detective agency dedicated to stopping supernatural forces and helping
the helpless. After Cordelia acquires the ability to see visions of those in
need, she becomes a more compassionate and heroic character. In the middle of
the third season, she becomes a love interest of the main protagonist Angel. In
the fourth season of Angel, she appears to take on a villainous role before it
is revealed that she is possessed by a malevolent deity; this storyline
eventually leads to her death and subsequent exit from the series. The character
makes further canonical appearances in the comic books Buffy Season Eight and
Angel: After the Fall, in a dream flashback and as a spirit guide.
Created as a foil for Buffy's titular heroine, Cordelia was initially
characterized as "shallow", "vain" and "self-centered", and was used in the
series to create conflict for the other characters. The character went through
changes as she gradually redeemed herself throughout the course of Buffy and
Angel, and has received attention in academic texts related to gender studies
and social status.
Contents
[hide] 1 Appearances 1.1 Television
1.2 Literature
2 Conception and casting
3 Characterization 3.1 Characteristics and analysis
3.2 Development
4 Reception
5 References
6 External links
[edit] Appearances
[edit] Television
Cordelia Chase first appears in the premiere episode of Buffy the Vampire
Slayer, titled "Welcome to the Hellmouth". Introduced as a potential friend for
Sunnydale High's newest student, Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar), Cordelia
reveals her true colors by cruelly mocking Willow (Alyson Hannigan), whom Buffy
befriends instead.[1] Ignorant of the supernatural, Cordelia shows up regularly
throughout the first season of Buffy to insult and ridicule the other
characters. She plays a larger role in the episode "Out of Mind, Out of Sight",
in which she falls victim to a social outcast who wants revenge on popular
students for ignoring her so much that she turned invisible.[2] In the season
finale, Cordelia helps Buffy and her friends battle vampires, finally coming to
terms with the existence of supernatural forces.[3] In season two, Cordelia
becomes a more active ally to the "Scooby Gang" and begins a romantic
relationship with Xander Harris (Nicholas Brendon). In "Bewitched, Bothered and
Bewildered", dating someone of Xander's social status causes Cordelia to become
ostracised from her popular peers and she reluctantly breaks up with him.
However, when Xander performs a love spell to pay her back for hurting him,
Cordelia realises how much he cares about her and takes him back, rejecting her
superficial friends in the process.[4] In season three's "Lovers Walk", Cordelia
suffers heartbreak when Xander cheats on her with Willow, which ends their
relationship.[5] By the season three episode "The Wish", Cordelia slips back
into her antagonistic persona from the first season, disassociating herself from
the Scooby Gang altogether.[6] In the episode "The Prom", she reveals that her
family's wealth has been seized for tax fraud. Cordelia later attempts an
unsuccessful relationship with Wesley (Alexis Denisof) and makes peace with
Xander at the prom.[7] In the season three finale, she rallies alongside Buffy
and her friends at graduation against the demonic Mayor of Sunnydale (Harry
Groener), where Cordelia slays her first vampire.[8]
After three seasons on Buffy, Cordelia moved over to star in Angel, a spin-off
series focusing on Buffy's vampire ex-lover Angel (David Boreanaz). The first
season of Angel sees Cordelia move to Los Angeles, in the hopes of escaping her
new-found poverty by becoming an actress. After Angel saves her life in the
series pilot, Cordelia helps him found the supernatural detective agency Angel
Investigations, working in an administrative position.[9] She also becomes close
to half-demon co-worker Doyle (Glenn Quinn), but their budding romance is ended
by his death nine episodes into the series. Before dying in the episode
"Hero",[10] Doyle passes his ability to see people in distress over to Cordelia
when he kisses her.[11] Although she initially views the visions as a curse, in
the season one finale, a demon causes Cordelia's visions to overwhelm
her—causing her to experience worldwide pain—and upon her recovery she vows to
help those in need.[12] In season two's "Reunion", Cordelia and the other staff
at Angel Investigations are fired by Angel, who is becoming increasingly
obsessed with bringing down the evil law firm Wolfram & Hart.[13] Cordelia joins
Wesley and Charles Gunn (J. August Richards) in re-forming the agency on their
own.[14] Angel and Cordelia eventually reconcile in the episode
"Epiphany".[15][16] As her acting career continues to flounder, Cordelia is
sucked into and made princess of a medieval hell dimension called Pylea in the
season two episode "Over the Rainbow".[17] When presented with the opportunity
to pass her visions over to a champion named the Groosalugg (Mark Lutz),
Cordelia refuses and returns to L.A. with her friends in the season two
finale.[18][19]
In season three's "Birthday", Cordelia learns from the demon Skip (David Denman)
that her visions are slowly killing her because human beings are not strong
enough to control them. To save her life, Cordelia accepts Skip's offer to alter
history so that she never met Angel in L.A., instead landing her big break as an
actress. However, even in this alternate timeline, Cordelia feels compelled to
help others and eventually crosses paths with Angel again, who received the
visions in her place and is now insane. Unable to let her friend suffer,
Cordelia has Skip return the timeline to normal, and agrees to become
half-demon, with new powers, in order to harbor the visions safely.[20] This
season also sees Angel become a father,[21] with Cordelia stepping in to mother
the infant Connor until he is kidnapped into a hell dimension in the episode
"Sleep Tight",[22] only to emerge as a disturbed teenager (Vincent Kartheiser)
in "The Price".[23] In the episode "Waiting in the Wings", Angel realizes he has
romantic feelings for Cordelia, but is prevented from voicing them by the return
of Groosalugg.[24] Cordelia dates Groosalugg for the remainder of the season,
but Groo notices she loves Angel instead and decides to leave. In the season
finale, Cordelia arranges to meet Angel to confess her feelings, but is
prevented from doing so by Skip, who informs her that she has become a higher
being. Cordelia accepts her duty, and leaves Earth for another dimension.[25] In
season four, Cordelia feels trapped in her position as a higher being,[26][27]
and so in the episode "The House Always Wins" she returns to Earth in an
amnesiac state.[28] In "Spin the Bottle", her memories are returned via a spell,
along with a vision of a mysterious Beast (Vladimir Kulich). Afterward, she
admits to Angel the feelings she once had for him.[29] As L.A. succumbs to the
apocalypse in season four's "Apocalypse, Nowish", Cordelia begins to behave
out-of-character; she seduces Connor,[30] murders Lilah (Stephanie Romanov) in
the episode "Calvary",[31] commands the Beast in "Salvage",[32] and magically
battles former friend Willow to keep Angel from his soul in the episode
"Orpheus".[33] In season four's "Players", the team realize that the now
pregnant Cordelia is possessed,[34] so Cordelia takes the unstable Connor on the
run with her so they may give birth to their supernatural offspring, Jasmine
(Gina Torres). In "Inside Out", Skip explains that Jasmine is his master, and a
higher being who possessed Cordelia before her returning to Earth, manipulating
events to be born in a new body of her own.[35]
Cordelia falls into a post-natal coma for the remainder of season four.
Following an eleven-episode absence, Cordelia returns to Angel in season five,
in the 100th episode "You're Welcome". Having apparently awoken from her coma,
Cordelia reunites with Angel Investigations, who she discovers have taken over
Wolfram & Hart since their defeat of Jasmine. She chastises Angel for accepting
W&H's "deal with the devil", and reminds him of his true mission and higher
calling. Together, they face and defeat their old enemy Lindsey McDonald
(Christian Kane), who had been impersonating Doyle in an attempt to destroy
Angel. In the episode's closing moments, Cordelia reiterates to Angel that she
loves him and kisses him, shortly before he receives a phone call reporting that
Cordelia died that morning. When Angel turns around, Cordelia is gone. It is
later revealed that this encounter—the Powers That Be repaying their debt to
Cordelia—allowed Cordelia to pass one last vision over to Angel, giving him the
knowledge he needs to bring down the Circle of the Black Thorn.[36]
Between 2001 and 2004, Joss Whedon and Jeph Loeb developed a 4-minute pilot
episode for Buffy the Animated Series, which was set during the show's first
season. Had the series been picked up by a network, it would have featured
Cordelia (voiced by Charisma Carpenter) in more high-school adventures.
Following a 2008 leak of the pilot to YouTube, Loeb expressed some hope that the
series may be resurrected in some form.[37]
[edit] Literature
Cordelia also appears in comic books and novels based on the Buffy and Angel
television series. The Cordelia Collection, Vol. 1 by Nancy Krulik is a
novelization of the Buffy episodes "Out of Mind, Out of Sight", "Some Assembly
Required" and "Homecoming". These episodes tell specific incidents in which
Cordelia becomes targeted: by a scorned classmate, to become a zombie's bride
and by hunters in a case of mistaken identity.[38] She appears in numerous Angel
novels as a member of Angel Investigations, but some feature Cordelia more
prominently; in Not Forgotten she uncovers exploitation of child immigrants,
while in Haunted she appears as a contestant on a supernatural-themed reality
television show when she has a vision about another applicant. Cordelia appears
in the majority of Angel comics, published by Dark Horse Comics during 2000–2002
and set between episodes of the television series. She appears less frequently
in those by IDW Publishing between 2005 and 2011, mainly in stories set in and
after the fifth season. Cordelia typically plays a minimal role in the Dark
Horse Angel comics. However, issue seventeen was a "Cordelia Special", in which
demonic items are stashed in Cordelia's apartment. In the Dark Horse Presents
story "Lovely dark and deep", Cordelia lands a role as the star of a demonic
movie. Cordelia appears in the IDW Publishing comic mini-series Angel: The
Curse, set after season five, in flashback scenes.[39] She subsequently
reappears in the mini-series Angel: Old Friends, which sees Angel battle evil
clones of his friends. Cordelia claims to be the genuine article, having
returned from the dead, but Angel is unconvinced and kills her; his suspicions
prove correct when her body immediately disintegrates like the other clones.[40]
Angel (David Boreanaz) (2.01–3.22, recurring previously and afterward)
Angel, a vampire, formerly known as Angelus, was a cruel killer until he was re-ensouled by a Roma curse. After decades of guilt over his past atrocities, he allies himself with Buffy and they fall in love. The consummation of their relationship brings him a moment of true happiness, breaking the curse and releasing Angelus upon Sunnydale. Buffy is forced to send him to a hell dimension to save the world. After his release from hell, Buffy and Angel continue to struggle with their ongoing love. Angel breaks off their relationship and moves to L.A. (after season 3) to give her a chance at a more normal life. There, he gathers new allies in his own fight against evil in the five-season spin-off, Angel.
Angel/Angelus
Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel character
First appearance
"Welcome to the Hellmouth" (Buffy, 1997)
Created by
Joss Whedon
Portrayed by
David Boreanaz
Information
Affiliation
Scooby Gang
Angel Investigations
The Powers That Be
Wolfram & Hart
Classification
Vampire
Notable powers
Supernatural strength, speed, stamina, agility, and reflexes
Acute sensory perception, rapid healing, and immortality
Angel (formerly Angelus, previously Liam) is a fictional character created by
Joss Whedon and David Greenwalt for the television programs Buffy the Vampire
Slayer and Angel. He is played by actor David Boreanaz. Angel is a 242 year old
Irish vampire who is cursed with a soul, a punishment designed to make him
suffer for his past crimes committed under the name Angelus, the demonic split
personality of Angel. Like many characters in the Buffyverse, Angel goes through
drastic changes. He starts out as a reluctant hero who stayed in the shadows,
and ended up a dark, flawed, yet altruistic champion of mankind, seeking to
voluntarily atone for his sins. In addition to the two television series, the
character appears in the comic book continuations of both series.
As Angelus, he is the main antagonist in season two of Buffy The Vampire Slayer
as well as an important antagonist and puppet of The Beastmaster in season four
of the Spin-off series Angel. Apart from those lengthy 'Awakenings' Angelus is
seen periodically throughout both series in flashbacks, fantasies and fake-outs.
Contents
[hide] 1 Buffy the Vampire Slayer
2 Angel
3 Comic books
4 Reception
5 References 5.1 Notes
6 External links
[edit] Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Angel's first appearance is in "Welcome to the Hellmouth", the first episode of
Buffy the Vampire Slayer in 1997. In it, he meets the protagonist Buffy Summers
(Sarah Michelle Gellar), a young girl destined to fight evil in the small town
of Sunnydale. For the first half of the season, Angel is an enigmatic love
interest for Buffy, showing up only to offer her cryptic messages about upcoming
threats. It isn't until the episode "Angel" that the character is revealed to be
a benevolent vampire. Although uneasy about trusting a vampire, Buffy and the
Scooby Gang eventually come to view Angel as an ally. In the second season
(1997–1998), Buffy and Angel's romantic relationship develops and the pair have
sex in the episode "Surprise". For experiencing a moment of pure happiness,
however, the gypsy curse on Angel is revoked, unleashing the soulless Angelus,
who reunites with his old friends, vampires Spike (James Marsters) and Drusilla
(Juliet Landau), and begins terrorizing Buffy and her friends. Upon discovering
gypsy descendent Jenny Calendar (Robia LaMorte), who is working to translate the
text of a spell to restore Angel's soul, Angelus murders her by breaking her
neck, and places her body in the bed of her boyfriend, Giles (Anthony Head), for
him to discover. Angelus then attempts to destroy the world by awakening the
demon Acathla. In the season finale, neophyte witch Willow (Alyson Hannigan)
manages to restore Angel's soul at the last moment, but Buffy is forced to kill
him to save the world from Acathla, and Angel is sent to hell. In season three
(1998–1999), episode three, "Faith, Hope & Trick", Angel inexplicably returns
from hell. The Scooby Gang are outraged when they discover that Buffy has been
secretly caring for him since his resurrection, but grudgingly accept him after
he saves Willow's life in episode seven, "Revelations". In the episode "Amends",
Giles discovers Angel was brought back from Hell by the primordial First Evil as
part of a plot to have Angel eventually murder Buffy. Angel attempts suicide by
waiting for the sun to rise on Christmas morning. California's heatwave is
interrupted by a freak snowstorm, sparing Angel's life, which he takes as a sign
from above. Buffy and Angel initially attempt to be friends but eventually
resume a celibate romantic relationship. However, Angel becomes more aware of
their limitations as a couple and breaks up with her in the hopes that she will
be happier without him, leaving Sunnydale altogether after attending Buffy's
prom and helping her in the battle against Mayor Wilkins (Harry Groener).
[edit] Angel
After his departure from Buffy, Angel appeared in his own spin-off series,
titled Angel. Moving to Los Angeles, he starts a supernatural detective agency
called Angel Investigations. He dedicates himself to "helping the hopeless," and
becomes a Champion of The Powers That Be, who send him psychic visions through
his employees Doyle (Glenn Quinn), and later Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter). In
doing so, he frequently clashes with the powerful law firm Wolfram & Hart, who
represent the evil of the world. During this season (1999–2000), Buffy and Angel
appear in each other's shows (the Buffy episode "Pangs" and the Angel episode "I
Will Remember You"), but are forced to accept that nothing has changed and they
still can't or shouldn't be together. Later in the television season, Buffy
crosses over into the episode "Sanctuary" where she attempts to kill rogue
Slayer Faith (Eliza Dushku) to whom Angel shows compassion, and Angel appears in
Buffy's "The Yoko Factor" where he squares off with Buffy's new boyfriend Riley
(Marc Blucas). In the season one finale, Angel is given some hope at redemption
when the Shanshu prophecy reveals that a vampire with a soul may eventually
become human after fulfilling his role in the upcoming apocalypse. In season two
(2000–2001), Angel discovers that Wolfram & Hart has brought his sire and former
lover Darla (Julie Benz) back from the dead in human form. Although Darla is
intent on bringing back Angelus, Angel hopes to save her soul and help her seek
redemption while she still has a chance. However, just as it looks like he might
succeed, Wolfram & Hart bring in Drusilla to turn Darla back into a vampire.
Embracing his dark side, Angel fires his employees, Cordelia, Wesley (Alexis
Denisof) and Gunn (J. August Richards), and embarks on a vendetta against
Wolfram & Hart; Angel allows Darla and Dru to massacre a group of lawyers.
Losing faith in his mission, he has sex with Darla in the hopes of losing his
soul. Instead, however, he experiences an epiphany and realises that the good
fight is still worth fighting. A disgusted Darla flees L.A. and Angel reconciles
with his friends, who eventually forgive him. Angel also appears in Buffy season
five's "Forever", comforting Buffy after her mother's death.
Season three (2001–2002) sees Angel struggle with fatherhood when Darla returns
pregnant with his child, despite the fact that vampires are unable to conceive.
When Darla kills herself to give birth, Angel is left to raise the baby Connor
(played by triplets Connor, Jake and Trenton Tupen) and protect him from those
who wish to get their hands on a child of two vampires. False prophecies, time
travel, and betrayal lead to Angel losing his infant son to an old enemy, Holtz
(Keith Szarabajka), who abducts Connor into a hell dimension where time passes
differently. Connor (Vincent Kartheiser) returns days later, fully grown and
under the belief that Angel is a soulless monster. Holtz kills himself and Angel
is framed for his death by Holtz's lover, prompting Connor to take revenge by
sinking his father to the bottom of the ocean. Over the course of this season,
Angel's friendship with his colleague Cordelia evolves into romance, but
circumstances prevent him from confessing his feelings.
In Angel's fourth season (2002–2003), Angel is rescued from the ocean by his
former friend Wesley. As Los Angeles crumbles under the apocalypse, Angel is
forced to cope with the romantic relationship between his son and Cordelia. In
order to find out more about the Beast (Vladimir Kulich) terrorizing L.A., Angel
Investigations remove Angel's soul and bring back Angelus. Their plan fails, and
Angelus wreaks havoc until an old friend, Willow, manages to return his soul for
the second time. It is eventually revealed that Cordelia is possessed by Jasmine
(Gina Torres), a higher power who puts humanity under her thrall in the hopes of
achieving world peace. When Angel restores free will and ruins Jasmine's plan,
Wolfram & Hart offer him control of their L.A. branch as a reward for putting a
stop to world peace. Angel accepts when they agree to rewrite Connor's memories
of growing up in hell, allowing him to live a normal life with a new family.
Afterwards, Angel appears in the penultimate and final episodes of Buffy,
presenting Buffy with an amulet to help her battle the First Evil.
In the final season of Angel (2003–2004), the character has made a deal with the
devil to become CEO of Wolfram & Hart's Los Angeles office. All of his friends
have also become W&H employees, hoping to reform the organization from within
under Angel's supervision. His life this season is complicated by the
increasingly blurred line between good and evil, the deaths of loved ones
Cordelia and Fred (Amy Acker), and the possibility that the Shanshu prophecy may
in fact be referring to Spike (who is now also a vampire with a soul) rather
than himself. Allowing his friends to believe he is being corrupted, Angel
secretly plots to bring down the Senior Partners of Wolfram & Hart by
assassinating the Circle of the Black Thorn, signing away his prophesied
humanity in the process. Realizing that he may never be able to fully stop the
forces of evil, Angel and his friends enter into a suicidal battle against the
Senior Partners, and the series ends with the question of their survival
unanswered.
Between 2001 and 2004, Joss Whedon and Jeph Loeb developed a 4-minute pilot
episode for Buffy the Animated Series, which was set during the show's first
season. Had the series been picked up by a network, it would have featured Angel
(voiced by David Boreanaz) in more adventures set during Buffy's first season.
Following a 2008 leak of the pilot to YouTube, Loeb expressed some hope that the
series may be resurrected in some form.[1]
[edit] Comic books
In 2007, Angel began appearing in two canonical continuations of Buffy the
Vampire Slayer and Angel from Joss Whedon. The first of these was Buffy the
Vampire Slayer Season Eight, published by Dark Horse Comics, which continued the
story of the Buffy television series. Later that year, Whedon and IDW Publishing
released the series Angel: After the Fall, which continued on from the series
finale of Angel. The two series were published by different publishers due to
Dark Horse initially giving up the rights to licensed Angel comic books several
years ago when the series was still on air. In Dark Horse's Buffy continuation,
Angel initially appears to feature in Buffy's dream sequences (in the comic's
third and twentieth issues, as well as in the Dark Horse Presents special Season
Eight comic "Always Darkest"), but is later revealed to have been in the series
from the beginning in its 33rd issue, published in 2010, in which the recurring
villain "Twilight" is unmasked as Angel.[2] He then features substantially in
the remainder of the series. Angel features as the central character in IDW's
After the Fall, however, which has no crossover with the events of Buffy. Whedon
devised the storyline for After the Fall issues 1-17 with writer Brian Lynch,
but did not write for the series himself as with Buffy. Beginning with the
eighteenth issue of the series, IDW chose to continue telling Angel stories in
an ongoing comic book with rotating writers and artists, although these stories
"did not come from Whedon himself".[3][4] In the continued series without
Whedon's involvement, Angel engages in episodic adventures, while the series
also takes breaks to focus on other characters. Subsequent writers included Bill
Willingham.[5] When rights to Angel settings and characters reverted to Dark
Horse, IDW promised to end their ongoing Angel series with its forty-fourth
issue in 2011, and began negotiating with Dark Horse so that it would bridge
continuity with Season Eight and the upcoming Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season
Nine.[6] Its final Angel story is the hardcover send-off Angel Yearbook. During
its tensure, IDW also published various miniseries depicting Angel and related
characters, such as John Byrne's Angel: Blood and Trenches (2009), and several
Illyria and Spike stories.
In After the Fall, set after the fifth season, Angel and his friends struggle as
Los Angeles has been moved to a hell dimension by the Senior Partners who have
also turned Angel human as a punishment.[7][8][9] With the help of Wesley's
ghost,[7] magical spells to simulate his old abilities,[10] and a friendly
dragon (seen in "Not Fade Away") which he names after Cordelia,[11] Angel
continues helping the helpless. Angel eventually outsmarts and kills the Demon
Lords of Los Angeles to win the city back for its people.[12] Gunn, now a
vampire out for revenge against Angel following the fight in the alley,[8]
confronts Angel,[13] and brings him to the point of death.[14] Cordelia's spirit
comes to convince Angel to keep fighting, in spite of a vision of the "final
battle" which sees Angel responsible for countless deaths.[11][15] Wesley also
confirms that Angel is still viable for the Shanshu prophecy, because his signed
contract was never filed.[11] Angel's body is subsequently taken by the Senior
Partners and restored to health while Gunn successfully manages to restore the
demon Illyria (introduced in season five) to her true form, hoping she will
restore time to before the Fall of Los Angeles only to embark on a destructive
rampage instead.[16] Gunn kills Connor,[17] but rather than avenge the death
Angel allows Gunn to kill him, forcing the Senior Partners to restore time back
to before the Fall, as he is necessary to their plans. Restored to the fight in
the alley with memories intact, Angel saves Gunn this time and later is happily
reunited with Connor.[18] Angel enjoys celebrity status from the citizens of Los
Angeles, and gives Cordelia the dragon over to Groosalugg. As a mark of respect
for his friends, he names a wing of the Los Angeles public library after Wesley
and Fred; Wesley is no longer a ghost. Angel leaves the human, traumatised Gunn
an Angel Investigations card and returns to his duties helping the hopeless.[19]
In Season Eight, Twilight appears in the premiere issue, written by Whedon; his
shoes are seen floating in the air as he surveys Buffy. At the end of the arc,
the military general who coordinated a large-scale attack on Buffy is revealed
to be a follower of "Twilight";[20] later issues show that many of the
anti-Slayer forces serve under the leadership of a masked person known as
Twilight.[21] Buffy herself finally confronts Twilight in "A Beautiful Sunset",
along with the Slayer Satsu, but Twilight's superior strength and ability to fly
ensures his easy victory.[22] In Jane Espenson's story arc "Retreat", Twilight
locates Buffy's allies through their use of magic, forcing them to converge and
retreat.[23] In Tibet, Slayers and witches suppress their magic,[24][25] which
ultimately leads to a mutually destructive military conflict between the Slayers
and Twilight's forces.[22] In its aftermath, however, Buffy mysteriously
acquires abilities conspicuously similar to Twilight's.[26][27][28] In the
penultimate arc, written by Brad Meltzer, the newly-empowered Buffy faces up to
her masked enemy again. Twilight reveals himself to be Angel, and claims to have
been distracting the various groups that would seek to destroy Buffy while
pushing her towards some other end.[29] Buffy and Angel — destiny's agents in
discarding the old reality and ushering in a new one — are overcome with desire
for one another. They kiss, have sex and fly through space, eventually ascending
to a dimension called Twilight. Meanwhile, Giles exposits a prophecy pertaining
to the creation of a new universe, brought about by a Slayer falling in love
with a vampire.[30] The two come to their senses and return to Earth to fight
off the hordes of demons unleashed by their ascension.[31] Espenson's Riley
one-shot flashes back to an uneasy Angel, early in his Twilight masquerade,
convinced by Whistler (Angel's mentor in flashbacks from Buffy season two) that
this course of actions leads to the only possible future in which Buffy
survives.[32] The final arc, "Last Gleaming", depicts Angel's first encounter
with the higher power which bestowed Twilight's superheroic abilities on him.
Spike explains the next step in the prophecy, which concerns the new universe
springing from the mystical Seed of Wonder, a source for all the magic in the
universe, buried beneath Sunnydale.[33] Although he tries to stop more of the
damage caused by the Twilight dimension's coming, the Twilight dimension (the
aforementioned higher power) possesses Angel.[34] To protect the seed, a
possessed Angel then tries to kill Buffy and Spike, and goes so far as to snap
Giles' neck. This prompts Buffy to destroy the Seed. This stops the Twilight
dimension from destroying the existing world, and Angel is dispossessed, but the
universe is also stripped of all magic.[35]
Following on from this, Angel headlines the series Angel and Faith, primarily
set in London. Its stories aim to be respectful to the storylines featured in
IDW's forty-four issue Angel run,[36] and maintains a very tight continuity with
Buffy Season Nine and other related comics.[37] In his series, Angel faces the
looming threat of his now unstable former mentor Whistler, who helped bring
about his transformation into Twilight, as well as his two dangerous former
acolytes, half-demons Pearl and Nash, in addition a group of British Slayers who
cannot forgive his actions as Twilight. Along with Faith, he lives in Giles'
London apartment where they are joined by Giles' ageless aunts, witches Lavinia
and Sophronia. Angel intends to honor Giles' memory, and seeks to collect
fragments of Giles' soul from magical items as part of a plan to resurrect him.
Daniel "Oz" Osbourne (Seth Green) (3.01–4.06, recurring previously and afterward)
Oz is a brilliant (yet generally unmotivated) student, and part-time rock guitarist. He is Willow's first and only boyfriend, and an active member of Buffy's inner circle, despite the fact that he has recently become a werewolf. Portrayed as taciturn and unflappable, the contrast between his outward coolness and his violent animal episodes is an example of the show's efforts to subvert usual character expectations, as well as to display double-personalities (like Angel/Angelus). As an unusual side-note, the actor Seth Green went on to co-design and supervise the creation of the acclaimed line of Buffy the Vampire Slayer action figures.
Daniel "Oz" Osbourne
Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel character
Oz playing at the Bronze.
First appearance
"Inca Mummy Girl" (Buffy, 1997)
Created by
Joss Whedon
Portrayed by
Seth Green
Information
Affiliation
Scooby Gang
Classification
Werewolf
Notable powers
Superhuman strength and speed in transformed state, and acute sensory perception
in both states.
Daniel "Oz" Osbourne is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the
television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The character is portrayed by Seth
Green. Green also portrays the character in one episode of spin-off series
Angel.
In Buffy, Oz is portrayed as a taciturn, guitar-playing teen who becomes
boyfriend to Willow (Alyson Hannigan), one of the show's main characters. After
first appearing in the episode "Inca Mummy Girl", Oz discovers he is a werewolf
in the episode "Phases" and becomes a recurring character throughout the second
season. Green is elevated to main cast for the third season, and departs from
the series in season four. Green portrays the character for a final time in the
season four finale "Restless" as part of a dream sequence. The character made a
brief canonical 'return', however, in the 2009 Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season
Eight storyline "Retreat".
Contents
[hide] 1 Appearances 1.1 Television
1.2 Literature
2 Dingoes Ate My Baby 2.1 Buffyverse appearances
2.2 Music
3 Concept and creation
4 References
[edit] Appearances
[edit] Television
Oz's most outstanding trait is his detached, ironic approach to life, masking a
deeply philosophical interior and a very devoted, gentle nature.[1] He is also
the lead guitarist for the band Dingoes Ate My Baby, which performs frequently
at The Bronze. A high school senior, one year above Willow and the rest of the
group, he is highly intelligent and "tests well", but his only real ambition
lies in his music.
He notices Willow in her Eskimo costume at a dance at The Bronze, and seems to
be interested in her at first sight; but does not meet her directly until
several episodes later. They have several dates, on one of which he witnesses a
vampire being dusted by Buffy for the first time, and is unsurprised upon
learning vampires exist and merely remarks that "it explains a lot". After this
he becomes a member of the Scooby Gang, helping with research and fighting.
In the episode "Phases" Oz learns he has become a werewolf, turning into a
monster on the three nights around a full moon, having been bitten on his finger
by his cousin Jordy. On his third night as a wolf, Oz is nearly killed by
werewolf hunter Gib Cain for his pelt, but is saved by Buffy and the Scooby
Gang, with whose help he quickly finds a way to minimize the danger posed by the
wolf: he locks himself into a cage for the appropriate nights, watched over by
the Scoobies in shifts. The revelation that Oz is a werewolf does not dissuade
Willow from dating him, and they become a couple.
Even though he is intelligent, several incompletes in his Senior year require he
repeat it, putting him in the same graduating year as the rest of the gang.
During this year, his relationship with Willow goes through rough water as he
and Cordelia catch Xander and Willow kissing. They break up, but get back
together again after Oz confesses he misses her ("Amends"). In the episode
"Graduation Day, Part One," Oz and Willow make love before the impending
confrontation with the evil Mayor Wilkins.
After graduation, he attends UC Sunnydale together with Buffy and Willow, and is
seen taking 'Introduction to Psychology' by Professor Walsh along with them.
Unlike the other two, he does not have a dorm room, but stays in a house off
campus along with the rest of the band,[2] and now locks himself up into a cage
in a crypt at a local cemetery. Oz makes one appearance on Angel to deliver the
Ring of Amarra, and plays a crucial role in the plot of that episode.
While appearing to the outside world to have come to terms with his lycanthropy
rather easily, evidence arises he indeed is fearful of his werewolf side ("Fear,
Itself"), and especially of hurting others with it.[3] Moreover, he starts to
see that he and his wolf side may not be as separate as he'd like to think. When
he meets a female werewolf, Veruca, a seductive UC Sunnydale student who sings
in a band, they are immediately drawn to each other, and unbeknownst to him,
they meet as wolves in the woods and have sex on the first night of the full
moon. Veruca, who, unlike Oz, is conscious of her state and believes they are
"the wolf all the time," tries to convince Oz that they belong together. Unlike
Oz, Veruca sees nothing wrong with killing humans when she is a werewolf as she
feels that that is her true identity. Instead of telling the others about
Veruca, he convinces her to join him in his cage on the next night they are due
to turn into werewolves. They have sex again and are found the next morning
lying together naked by Willow, who is devastated. Willow tries magic to hurt
Veruca, but is attacked by her. During the attack she transforms into a werewolf
and tries to kill Willow, but Oz, also in werewolf form, protects Willow and
kills Veruca.[4] Oz realizes that Veruca was correct, and tells Willow that he
is, indeed, "the wolf all the time" and needs to leave in order to try to better
understand his own nature.
Some months later, Oz returns to Sunnydale, having made progress with his
lycanthropy through techniques learned in Tibet.[5] He no longer uncontrollably
changes into a werewolf during a full moon, and can now control his
transformations, and shows Willow this when he takes her outside and shows her
that the moon is full and he has not changed. However, when experiencing the
powerful negative emotion of jealousy evoked by the discovery that Tara Maclay
has replaced him in Willow's affections, he does change, and is seized by The
Initiative and locked in their cells until Buffy, helped by Riley Finn, sets him
free.
The knowledge that Willow now loves Tara makes Oz leave Sunnydale for good,
though he and Willow each affirm the depth and permanence of their connection.
He is last seen in Willow's dream in the episode "Restless."
[edit] Literature
In 2007, Joss Whedon launched a "canonical" Buffy continuation in comic format,
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight. The series follows Buffy and her allies
some time after the events of the television series finale. Oz initially
features in a minor dream sequence in Whedon's premiere story arc, "The Long Way
Home" arc amid a collage of friends and family, but is not featured in any
principal role until the 2009 story arc "Retreat", written by Jane Espenson.[6]
The story sees Buffy and her army of Slayers magically transport themselves to
Oz's sanctuary in Tibet to escape the pursuit of her masked enemy, the
mysterious "Twilight". There, they hope to learn from Oz how to suppress their
magical abilities, as he did, and therefore to avoid Twilight's detection. Oz
introduces Buffy, Willow and friends to his wife Bayarmaa, who is also a
werewolf, and his young son, Kelden. Oz and a number of other werewolves assist
the rendered-powerless Slayers when Twilight's armed forces attack, though Oz
subsequently remains with his family when Buffy and her company depart once
again.
Oz also appears in Buffy Expanded Universe materials; the details offered in
these appearances would later be contradicted by canonical stories, such as
Espenson's arc for Season Eight. In addition to supporting roles in a number of
novels and comic books, Oz is central to the comic book trade paperback Oz
(2001) and the novel Oz: Into the Wild (2002). Both of these appearances are
written by Christopher Golden. Into the Wild is set during Oz's quest to control
his wolf-side, set after the television episode "Wild at Heart". Golden's
frequent writing partner Nancy Holder also wrote the 2005 novel Queen of the
Slayers, set after the events of the season seven finale. In Queen of the
Slayers, forces conspire to kill Buffy for destroying the Hellmouth in
Sunnydale. When Buffy encounters Oz, he is the leader of a pack of werewolves
who can completely control their wolf forms; Oz assists in the final battle of
the book, set during a full moon.
[edit] Dingoes Ate My Baby
Oz plays guitar in a rock band named Dingoes Ate My Baby.[7] The name alludes to
the widespread news coverage of the death of nine-week-old Azaria Chamberlain in
Australia in 1980.[8]
The only band member mentioned by name, other than Oz, is lead singer Devon
MacLeish (played by Jason Hall). Devon is a friend of Oz and he also briefly
dated both Cordelia Chase and Harmony Kendall.
Willow has the band's poster on her dorm room wall beginning in season 4 episode
2.
[edit] Buffyverse appearances
The band is first mentioned in the unaired Buffy pilot with a title card date of
05/03/96. Xander says, "They don’t know any actual chords yet, but they have
really big amps." They did not appear on the show until the second season, in
"Inca Mummy Girl," October 6, 1997. Dingoes continued to appear throughout
Seasons 3 and 4 until Oz left Sunnydale. A poster of theirs is seen once
afterward, in the episode Superstar. Most of their performances took place at
The Bronze, Sunnydale's local nightclub.
[edit] Music
The music of Dingoes Ate My Baby was actually composed and performed by Four
Star Mary. Most of the songs that were used on the show featured on their 1998
album, Thrown to the Wolves. The band is featured on Buffy the Vampire Slayer:
The Album. They also made a one-time appearance as themselves in "Restless".
They provided the music along with Christophe Beck to the Joss Whedon-written
song, "Giles' Epiphany".
[edit] Concept and creation
Oz originated as a temporary cast member for the show. He was based on a student
with whom Buffy-creator Joss Whedon attended college, as Whedon mentions in his
commentary on "Innocence" in the Season Two DVD boxed set. In the writers'
original plans Oz was to be killed early in Season Two by a vampire, presumably
Angelus, before this dubious honor went to Jenny Calendar.[citation needed] The
plan changed, as shown in "Phases" when Oz's plot is expanded as he becomes a
werewolf. On the season 4 featurette: Oz Revelations: A Full Moon, the writers
related Oz's inner werewolf to the dark urges every person encompasses. Even Oz,
being a stoic and calm persona, still had a strong and violent force inside,
which became increasingly harder to control.
Spike (James Marsters) (4.07–7.22, recurring previously)
Spike is a vampire character whose role varies dramatically through the course of the series, ranging from a major villain to "love's bitch", to the sarcastic comic relief, to Buffy's romantic interest in a relationship that grows from miserable lust to a friendship, and eventually to a self-sacrificing hero, dying as a Champion at the Hellmouth. His path to redemption subsequently resumes in L.A. (in season five of Angel), where his resurrected character continues to develop into a selfless hero and reconciles with his former nemesis and love rival, Angel, and occasionally works with him. Spike is known for his Billy Idol platinum hair, his catch-phrase "bloody hell", and his black leather duster, which he acquired after killing his second Slayer.
Spike
Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel character
Spike, as portrayed by James Marsters.
First appearance
"School Hard" (Buffy, 1997)
Created by
David Greenwalt, Joss Whedon
Portrayed by
James Marsters
Information
Affiliation
Scooby Gang
Angel Investigations
Wolfram & Hart
Classification
Vampire
Notable powers
Supernatural strength, speed, stamina, agility, and reflexes, acute sensory
perception, rapid healing and immortality.
Spike, played by James Marsters, is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon
for the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. Spike is a vampire
and played various roles on the shows, ranging from villain to anti-hero. For
Marsters, the role as Spike began a career in science fiction television,
becoming "the obvious go-to guy for US cult [television]".[1] For creator
Whedon, Spike is the "most fully developed" of his characters.[2] The character
had intended to be a brief villain, with Whedon originally adamant to not have
another major "romantic vampire" character like Angel - Marsters says "Spike was
supposed to be dirty and evil, punk rock, and then dead" - but the character
ended up staying for the second season, and then returning in the fourth to
replace Cordelia as "the character who told Buffy she was stupid and about to
die".[3]
Within the series' narrative, William was an unsuccessful aspiring poet in the
Victorian era who was mocked and called "William the Bloody" because of his
"bloody awful" poetry. Sired by the vampire Drusilla (Juliet Landau), William
became an unusually passionate and romantic vampire. Alongside Drusilla and
Angelus (David Boreanaz), William acquired the nickname Spike for his preferred
method of torturing people with railroad spikes. He was noted for killing two
vampire Slayers; one at the end of the 1800s during the Boxer Rebellion, the
other in 1970s New York, where Spike acquired his trademark leather duster.
During the second season of the series Spike comes to Sunnydale hoping to kill a
third Slayer, Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar), with whom he later forges
an uneasy alliance. Over the course of Buffy, Spike falls in love with the
Slayer, acquires a soul to prove himself to her, and dies a hero in the Buffy
series finale before being resurrected in the fifth season of spin-off series
Angel.
Considered a 'breakout character', Spike proved immensely popular with fans of
Buffy.[4] The character appears substantially in Expanded Universe materials
such as comic books and tie-in novels. Following the cancellation of Angel in
2004, Whedon considered creating a Spike film spin-off. Canonically, the
character appears in issues of the comic books Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season
Eight and Angel: After the Fall in 2007, several Spike miniseries, and a Spike
ongoing series in 2010.
Contents
[hide] 1 Appearances 1.1 Television 1.1.1 Early history
1.1.2 Sunnydale
1.1.3 Los Angeles
1.2 Literature
2 Characterization 2.1 Personality
2.2 Appearance
3 Powers and abilities
4 Unproduced spin-off movie
5 Reception
6 References
7 External links
[edit] Appearances
[edit] Television
[edit] Early history
Spike's story before he appears in Sunnydale unfolds in flashbacks scattered,
out of sequence, among numerous episodes of both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and
Angel. The first flashback occurs in Buffy Season Five's "Fool for Love", and
reveals William as in fact a meek, effete young man (and an aspiring poet) who
lived in London with his mother Anne.[5] Anne would often sing the folksong
"Early One Morning" to her son when he was a baby, right up until the time he
was turned into a vampire.[6] William's surname is given as "Pratt" in the
non-canon comic Old Times and is written on the label of his jar of blood in the
comic Spike: Asylum #002. The name William Pratt may allude to horror actor
Boris Karloff, whose birth name was William Henry Pratt, and can also be
understood as the British slang term "prat", describing a person of arrogant
stupidity.
Spike is one of the youngest recurring vampires on the show, though the evidence
of his age is contradictory, as the concept of the character evolved over time.
When he was introduced in "School Hard" (season 2), Giles read that he was
"barely two hundred," implying that he was either born or sired in 1797 or
slightly earlier. In "The Initiative" (season 4) he said he was 126, thus born
or sired in 1873. Flashbacks in "Fool for Love" (season 5) show that Spike was
sired as an adult in 1880. Assuming he was in his early 20's when he was sired,
Spike would be in his 140's during the series.
William, before becoming a vampire
In 1880, William was a struggling poet, often mocked by his peers who called him
"William the Bloody" behind his back because his poetry was so "bloody
awful."[5] The true origins of this nickname were not revealed until three years
after it was first mentioned in Season Two, when it was believed to have purely
violent connotations.[7] William showed a strong capacity for loyalty and
devoted love, which remained after his siring. After his romantic overtures were
rejected by the aristocratic Cecily, William wandered the streets despondently
and bumped into Drusilla. She consoled him, drained him of blood and made him
drink of her blood, thus transforming him into a vampire – "siring" him, in the
jargon of the series.[5] Spike's grand-sire Angelus became his mentor (leading
Spike occasionally to describe him loosely as his sire): "Drusilla sired me, but
you, you made me a monster."[8] Whereas new vampires in the Buffyverse often
delight in killing their families once they become evil, William was a notable
exception. Having always been very close to his mother, he turned her into a
vampire to save her from tuberculosis. But his mother, as a vampire, taunted
William and insinuated he had always had a sexual fascination with her. William
chose to stake her because he found he could not bear to see his mother behaving
like the soulless vampire he had made of her.[6] (She, like most vampires,
lacked his unusual capacity for some of the softer human emotions.) He would
later write a poem about this traumatic experience titled "The Wanton Folly of
Me Mum," which was mentioned but not recited in the Angel finale "Not Fade
Away".[9]
After staking his mother, William began a new life with Drusilla, to whom he was
utterly devoted. Euphoric with his newfound vampiric abilities, he adopted the
poses and trappings of a cultural rebel, affecting a working class North London
accent and embracing impulsiveness and extreme violence. He adopted the nom de
guerre "Spike" based on his habit of torturing people with railroad spikes –
possibly prompted by criticism of his poetry: "I'd rather have a railroad spike
through my head than listen to that awful stuff."[5] In "The Weight of the
World" Spike mentions having spent "the better part of a century" in
delinquency, suggesting criminal activities other than killing for blood. In the
company of Drusilla, Angelus and Darla, Spike terrorized Europe and Asia for
almost two decades. He had a strained relationship with Drusilla's sire Angelus,
who continued a sexual relationship with her despite Spike's strong
disapproval.[8] Although Angelus did enjoy the company of another male vampire
in their travels, he found Spike's recklessness and lust for battle to be
unnecessary risks. Angelus regarded killing as an art not a sport, and killed
for the sheer act of evil; Spike did it for amusement and the rush.[5]
In 1894, Spike and Angelus developed a rivalry with the enigmatic Immortal, who
later had Spike sent to prison for tax evasion.[10] In 1900, Spike killed a
Slayer in China during the Boxer Rebellion.[5] In 1943, he was captured by Nazis
for experimentation and taken aboard a submarine, where he was briefly reunited
with Angel.[11] By the 1950s, Spike had reunited with Drusilla, and they
traveled to Italy.[10] At some point, Spike also became rivals with famous
vampire Dracula. The enmity between Spike and Dracula was explored in the comic
series Spike vs. Dracula, in which their mutual hatred is caused when Spike,
along with Darla and Drusilla, slaughtered the Romani (gypsy) tribe who had
cursed their patriarch, Angelus, with a soul, although it is unclear if either
Spike or Drusilla knew precisely why Darla was so angry with the tribe. That
clan (unknown to Spike) was favored by Dracula and he sought revenge for their
deaths. Spike later mentions in a conversation with Riley Finn, "Dracula? Poncy
bugger owes me £11, for one thing," because Dracula tossed Spike's signed copy
of Bram Stoker's Dracula in a fire in 1898. Spike also notes that Dracula's fame
has done more damage to vampires than any Slayer.[12] Spike attended Woodstock
in 1969, whereupon he accidentally became high after ingesting the blood of a
hippy, he claims to have spent the next six hours following the incident
"watching my hand move".[7] In 1977 he fought and killed a second Slayer, Nikki
Wood, aboard a subway train in New York City, taking from her a black leather
duster which he wears throughout his appearances on Buffy and Angel until it is
destroyed in an explosion in Season Five of Angel, whereupon he gets a new one
that looks exactly like the old one ("The Girl in Question"). At some point
post-1977, Billy Idol allegedly "stole" Spike's look and made it famous as his
own (as revealed in Season Seven's "Sleeper"; see "Appearance" below); Spike's
thoughts on this are unrecorded. Inasmuch as Buffy knew of the "theft" as of
"Sleeper," Spike presumably shared the detail with her in an undepicted moment.
Spike's flashback appearances, in chronological order, include:
Lies My Parents Told Me 2nd flashback: In 1880 England, William, pre-Spike,
tends to his ailing mother Anne.
Fool for Love 1st flashback / Darla 3rd flashback: In 1880, William is
rejected by Cecily and sired by Drusilla, with whom he immediately falls in
love.
Lies My Parents Told Me 3rd and 4th flashbacks: In 1880, William sires his
mother Anne, who, as a vampire, turns against him, forcing him to destroy her.
Destiny series of flashbacks: In 1880, Drusilla introduces William to her
sire Angelus. Although the two become fast friends, they later clash when
William discovers Angelus making love with Drusilla. Angelus, informing
William that when one is a vampire "you can take what you want, have what you
want, but nothing is yours," fights William for the first time.
"Fool for Love" 2nd flashback: Months after being sired, William, now called
Spike, has through acts of public mayhem forced Angelus' vampire group
(himself, Spike, Drusilla, and Angelus' sire/paramour Darla) to flee London;
Spike first learns of the existence of the Vampire Slayer.
The Girl in Question 1st flashback: In 1894, Spike and Angelus are imprisoned
by the mysterious Immortal, who seduces Drusilla and Darla in their absence.
Darla 4th flashback: In 1898 Romania, Spike and Drusilla, under Darla's
orders, attack the Kalderash tribe who ensouled Angelus, later called Angel.
Following this incident, Angel parts company with the group, and the other
three vampires resume their travels without him.
"Fool for Love" 3rd flashback / Darla 5th flashback: In 1900 China, Spike
kills the Chinese Vampire Slayer. Angel, still ensouled, briefly reunites with
the group; when Spike and Drusilla boast of Spike's deed, Angel pretends to be
impressed but is actually disgusted.
Why We Fight series of flashbacks: In 1943, Spike and two other vampires are
abducted by Nazi agents onto a Nazi sub. Angel, working for the US government,
helps Spike seize control of the sub and escape.
The Girl in Question 2nd flashback: Spike and Drusilla visit Italy.
Lies My Parents Told Me 1st flashback: In 1977 New York, Spike fights Vampire
Slayer Nikki Wood while her young son Robin watches from a hiding place.
"Fool for Love" 4th flashback: In 1977 New York, Spike again fights Nikki
Wood, killing her. These are Spike's last depicted activities preceding his
arrival in Sunnydale, California.
[edit] Sunnydale
Spike first arrives in Sunnydale in the second season of Buffy the Vampire
Slayer, in the episode "School Hard", accompanied by Drusilla.[7] Spike and Dru
were modeled on Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen; punk, "badass" vampires to
contrast sharply with the more ceremonial tradition of the Master and the Order
of Aurelius from Season One.[13] Spike is in fact a fan of Sid Vicious' band The
Sex Pistols and punk band The Ramones. In the final scene of the episode "Lovers
Walk", he can be seen singing to a cover of "My Way" by Gary Oldman, who
portrayed Vicious in the film Sid and Nancy.[14] Notably, Spike's first act in
Sunnydale is to attack Buffy and a large group of people at her school, making
his first appearance the deadliest of any of Buffy's "Big Bads", as he very
nearly kills Buffy, but Buffy's mother distracts Spike long enough for Buffy to
recover. Throughout Season Two, Spike and Dru are the canon's most prominent
example of affection between vampires, displaying the humanity and intricacies
of vampire relationships. Spike was initially conceived as a disposable villain
to be killed off, but proved so popular with fans that Joss Whedon decided to
merely injure him instead,[13] in the episode "What's My Line, Part Two", in
which Spike is crushed by a collapsing pipe organ and left paralyzed.[15] (Later
it is revealed that he has recovered at some point, and has chosen to stay in
the wheelchair to deceive Angel whom he intended to betray.)
Spike's first appearance in the episode "School Hard".
Spike and Drusilla are major enemies of Buffy for much of the second season.
They arrive shortly after Drusilla is seriously weakened by an angry mob in
Prague, as recounted in the canon comic book The Problem with Vampires. Spike is
a devoted caretaker to Drusilla in her weakened condition, and initially hopes
the Hellmouth's energy can help restore her strength. He reunites with Angel and
seems genuinely pleased to see him, but is disgusted to find that Angel has a
soul (whether or not Spike in fact knew that Angel's acquisition of a soul is
why he left the group nearly a century before has never been made clear) and is
in love with the current Slayer, Buffy Summers.[7] When Angel loses his soul and
rejoins Spike and Dru, Spike's initial celebration soon turns to resentment when
Angelus starts pursuing Drusilla as a lover and taunting him. Spike decides to
ally himself with Buffy against Angelus; as he explains to Buffy, in addition to
wanting Drusilla back, he also wants to "save the world":[16]
“
"We like to talk big, vampires do. I'm going to destroy the world. That's just
tough guy talk. Strutting around with your friends over a pint of blood. The
truth is, I like this world. You've got – the dog racing, Manchester United,
and you've got people: billions of people walking around like Happy Meals with
legs. It's all right here. But then someone comes along with a vision, with a
real passion for destruction. Angel could pull it off. Goodbye Piccadilly,
farewell Leicester bloody Square." — Spike ("Becoming, Part Two").
”
Spike reappears in the Season Three episode "Lovers Walk", in a drunken
depression after Drusilla, offended by his alliance with Buffy, dumps him for a
Chaos demon. He kidnaps Willow and Xander, and forces Willow to conduct a love
spell for him to make Drusilla love him again, even coercing Buffy and Angel to
help him in exchange for the safe return of their friends. The excitement of a
brawl with the Mayor's vampires helps him see that Drusilla left him because he
had begun to go soft; he resolves to win her back by torturing her until she
likes him again, and tells Buffy where to find Willow and Xander. He also tells
Buffy and Angel that they can never be friends because of their love for one
another.[14] This insight foreshadows Spike's later role as the "truth-seer" of
the group.
Spike returns to Sunnydale alone in Season Four, in the episode "The Harsh Light
of Day", briefly living with Harmony Kendall, a shallow young vampire, and
former classmate of the "scooby gang."[17] He is in Sunnydale to look for the
Gem of Amarra, a ring which makes a vampire effectively invulnerable. He finds
it and attacks Buffy in daylight, but she wrests the ring from his finger and
sends it to Angel. Spike goes to Los Angeles, and hires a vampire named Marcus
to torture Angel in order to get the ring, but Marcus takes the ring himself and
Angel finally destroys it.
After being captured by the Initiative and implanted with a cerebral microchip
which punishes him with debilitating pain whenever he harms or attempts to harm
any non-demon life forms, Spike turns to the Scooby Gang for protection,
bartering his knowledge of the Initiative. (Though he still spars with Buffy,
provided he has no real intent on harming her) His inability to bite is
comically compared to impotence, much to Spike's constant humiliation;[18] in
"Doomed", he attempts to commit suicide by staking himself at Xander's house,
but is stopped by Willow and Xander. Occasionally helping the Scooby Gang by
providing them with information and/or combat assistance in exchange for
cash[19] or for the joy of fighting, but having no qualms about betraying them
to such enemies as Faith[20] and Adam.[21] In Season Four, Spike was introduced
to fill the antagonistic role that Cordelia had in seasons One to Three; as Joss
Whedon explains on the DVD featurette, "All of our characters got to the point
where they were loving and hugging, and it was sort of like, where's
Cordelia?"[22] Spike appeared in every episode thereafter with the exception of
"The Body".
In Season Five, after some erotic dreams, Spike becomes aware to his horror that
he has fallen in love with Buffy.[23] He becomes a more active participant in
the Scooby Gang, jumping into several of Buffy's fights to provide assistance,
whether she wants it or not. When Buffy rejects his advances, Spike attempts to
prove his love by kidnapping her so that she can witness him killing Drusilla
for her, to little avail; in her disgust, Buffy un-invites him from her house
(something she had not bothered to do in the almost three years since their
alliance against Angelus) and alienates him from the group.[24]
Spike then has Warren Mears make a robot in Buffy's likeness, programmed to love
and obey him. Though Buffy is disgusted by this, her hostility towards him fades
considerably when she learns that Spike refused, even under intense torture, to
reveal the identity of The Key to Glory, nearly laying down his life to protect
Buffy's sister Dawn. Buffy is moved by this unexpected loyalty and kisses him,
saying she will not forget what he has done.[25] In the days and hours leading
up to the final showdown with Glory, Spike fights by Buffy's side, earning her
trust and a re-invitation to her house. Spike displays unabashed grief after
Buffy dies in the showdown with Glory,[26] Spike honors her memory by remaining
loyal to the Scoobies, fighting at their side and serving the role of
baby-sitter / older brother / protector to Dawn, helping Willow and Tara to
raise her in Buffy's absence.
After Buffy is resurrected at the beginning of Season Six, she is despondent and
detached from her friends. During this time, her relationship to Spike deepens
and she is able to talk to him about things she feels she cannot share with the
Scooby Gang. She gets drunk with Spike, and calls him "a neutered vampire who
cheats at kitten poker." After a demon's spell makes them express their emotions
in song, and Buffy sings "I want the fire back",[27] Buffy and Spike begin a
physical relationship, consummated two episodes later.[28] The relationship is
frequently violent, with Buffy most often initiating both the violence and the
sex between them; the violence is made all the easier when Spike finds that (as
a side effect of Willow's resurrection spell) his chip now does not stop him
from harming Buffy. Buffy threatens to kill Spike if he ever tells anyone about
their relationship. Both are unsatisfied; Buffy is ashamed of her dark desires,
while Spike obsessively craves the love, trust, and affection that she is
unwilling to give. In "As You Were", Buffy tells Spike she is using him and ends
their relationship.[29] Believing he still has a chance with Buffy after seeing
her reactions of jealousy and hurt when he has a drunk sexual encounter with
Anya, Spike corners her and makes aggressive sexual advances. When she refuses
him, he grows desperate and unsuccessfully tries to rape her.[30] He is at once
horrified by his own actions and intentions, while also somewhat remiss that he
did not go through with the rape, since he is still essentially a demon and has
had no problem committing such acts in the past. This is seen in his reactions
to reliving the memory of the event while discussing his subsequent mood with
Clem, who has come by with hot wings to hangout. Spike heads to a remote area of
Africa, where he seeks out a legendary demon shaman and undergoes the Demon
Trials, a series of grueling physical challenges. Up until this point it is
still unclear what he hopes to gain from this. A question stemming from the back
and forth between his demon nature and his love for Buffy. Is he asking to have
his chip removed so he can be his old self again and "give her what she
deserves" as he says, implying violence of some kind as retaliation for spurning
his advances? Or is what she deserves a "better man? Proving his worthiness by
surviving the trials, Spike earns his soul back.[31]
In Season Seven, a re-ensouled Spike must cope with the guilt of his past
actions and try to win back Buffy's trust. But under influence of the First
Evil's hypnotic trigger, Spike unknowingly starts killing again. Upon
discovering what he has done, he begs Buffy to stake him, but she refuses and
takes him into her house, telling him she has seen him change.[32] Buffy guards
and cares for Spike throughout his recovery, telling Spike she believes in
him,[33] a statement which later sustains him throughout his imprisonment and
torture at the hands of the First.[34] When Spike's chip begins to malfunction,
causing him intense pain and threatening to kill him, Buffy trusts him enough to
order the Initiative operatives to remove it from his head.[35] When Nikki
Wood's son Robin tries to kill Spike, he unwittingly frees Spike from his
hypnotic trigger: the song "Early One Morning", a favorite of his mother, which
evokes Spike's traumatic memories of his mother's abusive behavior toward him
after she turned; after Spike is able to address these issues, he realizes his
mother had always loved him, knowledge which frees him from the First's
control.[6]
Later in the season, Spike and Buffy achieve an emotional closeness; he alone
stays loyal to her when the Scoobies and Potentials mutiny against her, and his
words and encouragement give a depressed Buffy the strength to continue
fighting. They spend three nights together, one of which Spike describes as the
best night of his life, just holding her.[36] It is unclear whether they resume
their sexual intimacy during the third night; creator Joss Whedon says on the
DVD commentary for "Chosen" that he intentionally left it to the viewers to
decide how they felt the relationship progressed, though Whedon had earlier
stated on the commentary he personally felt having them resume a sexual
relationship would send the wrong message. In the final battle inside the
Hellmouth, Spike, wearing a mystical amulet, sacrifices himself to destroy the
Turok-Han and close the Hellmouth. He is slowly incinerated in the process, but
not before Buffy tells him "I love you." He replies, "No, you don't; but thanks
for saying it."[37] Even as he burns and crumbles to dust, Spike laughs and
revels in the destruction around him and the burning presence of his soul, glad
to be able to see the fight to its end. In dying to save the world, he becomes a
Champion.[38]
“
"Now, you listen to me. I’ve been alive a bit longer than you. And dead a lot
longer than that. I’ve seen things you couldn’t imagine - done things I’d
prefer you didn’t. I don’t exactly have a reputation for being a thinker. I
follow my blood. Which doesn’t exactly rush in the direction of my brain. I've
made a lot of mistakes. A lot of wrong bloody calls. A hundred plus years and
there’s only one thing I’ve ever been sure of. You." — Spike ("Touched").
”
[edit] Los Angeles
Spike had previously appeared in the season 1 episode of Angel "In the Dark",
Spike goes to Los Angeles at the same time as Oz arrives to give Angel the Gem
of Amarra, Spike's objective was to get the ring and kill Angel. Oz gives Angel
the ring who then hides it in the sewer, just as he is about to leave for
another case he is ambushed by Spike who hits him with a wooden plank, Angel
defeats Spike but Spike warns him that he will get the ring one way or another.
Angel takes precaution and goes on a manhunt for Spike, Angel finally finds him,
chases him through the alley, and corners him only to fall into Spike's trap.
Spike captures Angel and hires a vampire named Marcus to torture Angel until he
tells him where the ring is. After a while Spike gets bored of waiting so he
goes to Angel's apartment to find the ring and leaving Marcus to torture Angel,
he gets to the apartment only to find Cordelia and Doyle aiming at him with
weapons and demanding to know where Angel is. Spike reveals Angel's location and
tells them that the only way he will release Angel is if they find him the ring.
Cordelia and Doyle find the ring in the sewer and head straight to Spike. When
they arrive at the location they find out that Spike had lied about releasing
Angel. Taking precautions however, they then throw the ring away and just as
Spike was about to retrieve it, Oz bursts through the wall in his van and
rescues Angel. Spike looks for the ring but finds out that Marcus, took it.
Spike begins smashing Marcus's things and shouting about how he is going to work
alone from now on until a hole that was in the ceiling lets sunlight in and sets
the back of his hair on fire.
Despite his apparent death at the end of Buffy's final season, Spike returns in
the fifth and final season of the spin-off series Angel. Resurrected by the
amulet in the Los Angeles branch of supernatural law firm Wolfram & Hart, he
spends seven episodes as an incorporeal being akin to a ghost; he starts to
understand being one when he battles "the Reaper" Matthias Pavayne.[39] During
this time he realizes he is being slowly pulled into hell. Later he becomes
corporeal, due to a mysterious gift that arrives at the office of Wolfram and
Hart. Soon afterward he is kidnapped by the psychotic Slayer Dana, who believes
he was responsible for kidnapping and torturing her as a child.[40] After this,
Spike takes on Angel to prove which one of them is the Champion spoken of in the
Shanshu Prophecy. Spike defeats Angel, but the prophecy remains ambiguous (the
Cup of Torment is revealed as a fake containing Mountain Dew).[8] Manipulated by
Lindsey McDonald into "helping the helpless", Spike becomes a sort of rival to
Angel; resembling the heroic Champion Angel was in earlier seasons before
becoming disillusioned and corrupted by the bureaucracy of Wolfram & Hart.[41]
Cordelia comments on this strange turn of events after coming out of her coma in
"You're Welcome", exclaiming to Angel, "Okay, Spike's a hero, and you're CEO of
Hell, Incorporated. What freaking bizarro world did I wake up in?"[42]
When Fred is killed by Illyria,[43] Spike mourns her death and decides to join
Team Angel in her honor.[44] Upon learning that Buffy is now dating The
Immortal, Spike and Angel travel to Rome on the pretext of business but spend
most of the time there trying to find Buffy. In the end, they fail to catch up
with her. (The blonde glimpsed in Rome is later revealed to be a decoy Buffy,
set up by Andrew Wells, who had researched the history between Angel, Spike and
The Immortal, and thought the idea would be "hilarious".)[10] During the final
episodes of Angel, Spike is the first to vote for Angel's plan to wound the
Senior Partners by massacring the Circle of the Black Thorn. He then spends what
might be his last hours on Earth returning to his mortal roots as a frustrated
poet, triumphantly knocking them dead (figuratively) in an open mic poetry slam
at a bar. After single-handedly (literally, he held the baby in one hand and a
sword in the other) rescuing an infant and destroying the Fell Brethren, Spike
joins Angel, Illyria, and a badly-wounded Charles Gunn in the alley behind the
Hyperion as the series draws to an end, preparing to incur the apocalyptic wrath
of the Senior Partners, as a way of going out in a blaze of glory that will
probably cost their lives.
[edit] Literature
Spike appears significantly in a number of canonical Expanded Universe
literature concurrent with and subsequent to the television series, including
both Buffy and Angel comic books. Many of these novels and comic books concern
Spike's backstory in the periods between the events shown in flashbacks in the
television series. From 2007, both Dark Horse Comics and IDW Publishing began
telling canonical continuations of Buffy and Angel, respectively. Marsters
himself wrote for the miniseries Spike & Dru in 2000. The collection also
featured the Christopher Golden stories "The Queen of Hearts", "All's Fair",
"Paint the Town Red" and "Who Made Who?", set in or around episodes of Buffy in
Seasons Two and Four; "Who Made Who" is set during the Buffy episode "Lovers
Walk" and depicts the disintegration of his relationship with Drusilla when they
were together in Brazil. After Buffy finished in 2003, Spike appeared in a comic
story from the canonical Tales of the Vampires series. Written by series writer
Drew Goddard, "The Problem with Vampires" establishes his adventures in Prague
prior to his introduction Buffy episode "School Hard". Christopher Golden's 2000
novel Spike and Dru: Pretty Maids All in a Row depicts Spike killing a Slayer
named Sophie in the 1940s, contradicting the two Slayers whom Spike is later
established to have killed; the second Slayer Spike killed was established as
New Yorker Nikki Wood. The short story "Voodoo Lounge" from the collection Tales
of the Slayer is a sequel to this novel. Golden's 2006 novel, Blackout, is truer
to the series' chronology by depicting Spike's fatal encounter with Slayer Nikki
Wood in 1977. Diana G. Gallagher's 2005 novel Spark and Burn depicts the
struggling early-Season Seven Spike remembering an account of his life,
amounting to a chronological character history of Spike's life from the 19th
century to the time of the framing device.
This promotional poster for Brian Lynch's IDW Spike series was drawn by artist
Franco Urru in response to the spoiler leak controversy for the Dark Horse
Comics series Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight.[45] The image is reflective
of Spike's role in both franchises. Note that as the series' central character,
Spike receives his own stylised logo.
Most Spike-centric stories, however, have been published subsequent to Angel's
finale episode. The 2005 IDW comic book Spike: Old Times, by Peter David,
depicts Spike's encounter with the vengeance demon Halfrek, explaining his
recognition of her in Buffy episode "Older and Far Away", and clarifying that
she was in fact his beloved Cecily. Mutant Enemy approved the story, even though
IDW did not have rights to a Buffy-only character like Halfrek, because of her
importance to Spike's backstory, on the condition that the story's timing was
deliberately ambiguous.[46] Following Angel's cancellation, Spike immediately
appeared in the Angel miniseries Spike vs. Dracula by Peter David, a sequel to
the Buffy episode "Buffy vs. Dracula" and expanding on the characters'
century-old rivalry established in that episode. Scott Tipton's 2006 comic
Spike: Old Wounds is detective fiction set during Season Five, and also features
allusions to Spike's activities in the late 1940s. Tipton's Spike: Lost and
Found in 2006 is a Season Five story that acts as a sequel to the 1999
Buffy/Angel crossover episodes "The Harsh Light of Day" and "In the Dark",
featuring the immortality-bestowing Gem of Amarra in 2005 Los Angeles. Lastly,
writer Brian Lynch teamed up with Franco Urru to produce the story arc Spike:
Asylum (2006-7), depicting Spike's stay in a supernatural medical facility.
Although originally of the same ambiguous relationship to canon, the characters
it introduced would reappear in the canonical Angel comic books to come later.
Whedon appreciated Lynch's writing of Spike in Asylum so much that he
commissioned him to co-write the canonical continuation of the series, Angel:
After the Fall, in 2007.[47] Lynch and Urru also penned Spike: Shadow Puppets,
featuring Spike and Lorne doing battle with the muppet demons of Angel episode
"Smile Time" in Japan. In the explicitly-canonical Whedon stories of 2007, Spike
and Angel first appear in a joint cameo in Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight
(Dark Horse) as part of Buffy's sexual fantasies.[48][49] In the Dark Horse
Presents #24 Season Eight tie-in, "Always Darkest", Spike and Angel appear
(again in a dream sequence) at Buffy's side when she is fighting Caleb, but to
her dismay the two start flirting with and kissing one another.[50] Spike
appears in Season Eight properly at the conclusion of the "Twilight" story arc.
Lynch's Spike series features some collaboration with Whedon to connect the IDW
and Dark Horse series' continuities.[51] IDW had planned to launch the series as
a bona fide ongoing series, and as such it establishes a support cast for Spike
suited to his position headlining the title.[52] The transfer of Angel rights
from IDW to Dark Horse necessitated that it end instead as an 8-issue
miniseries.[53]
In IDW's Angel: After the Fall, Spike does not appear until the second issue,
written by Brian Lynch with art by Franco Urru (the creative team of Spike:
Asylum and Spike: Shadow Puppets) with plotting and "executive production" by
Whedon himself. In Angel: After the Fall, Spike has adjusted to Los Angeles' new
status as a literal hell on Earth; he and Illyria both serve together as the
Demon Lords of Beverly Hills, living in the Playboy Mansion after the death of
Hugh Hefner and served by a harem of human and demon females known collectively
as the "Spikettes." How Spike and Illyria got to be Lords of Los Angeles is
detailed in the Spike: After the Fall (2008) miniseries, which also introduces a
human friend for Spike in Jeremy Johns. In their new capacity, Spike and Illyria
secretly rescue humans and benevolent demons, evacuating them into the care of
Connor, Nina Ash, and Gwen Raiden. Spike rallies alongside Angel against the
other demon Lords. When vampire Gunn causes Illyria to revert to her monster
form, memories of Fred from Spike and Wesley are transplanted into her to
restore her humanity. After the Senior Partners revert time to before the Fall,
Spike begins a loosely-affiliated relationship with the reformed Angel
Investigations company, collaborating with Angel and his associates while
maintaining independence. Spike continues to appear in the ongoing Angel
spin-off series by IDW, under the pens of Kelley Armstrong, Bill Willingham and
others. As part of its After the Fall franchise, IDW also published Bill
Williams' miniseries, Spike: The Devil You Know in 2010. Spike (2010) follows
Spike's journey out of Los Angeles and into Vegas, where he acquires a spaceship
and a crew of alien bugs after learning from Wolfram & Hart of a prophecy
concerning the impending apocalypse (featured in Buffy) which has driven them to
abandon this dimension.
Spike's IDW series feeds into the "Twilight" and "Last Gleaming" arcs of Buffy
Season Eight, concluding Season Eight in 2011. In Season Eight, Spike and his
crew come to Buffy's aid to help prevent the end of the universe. Due to his own
research into the prophecies concerning this apocalypse, Spike is able to lead
Buffy and friends to the site of the final showdown with Twilight. When Buffy's
decision sees the world lose its magic, Spike is the only one to be emphatically
supportive of the decision she had to make. In the follow-up series Season Nine
(2011-present), Spike bases himself out of his ship in San Francisco to be near
Buffy, but eventually leaves due to the complicatedness of their relationship,
setting up the miniseries Spike: A Dark Place (2012), which follows Spike and
his insectoid crew aboard his spaceship. Dark Horse also gives the Spike title a
new stylised logo, distinct from the Angel-typeface logo used prior. The arc
serves to divest Spike of the ship and crew, and sets up his 2013 crossover
stint in Angel & Faith ahead of an eventual return to the main Buffy series.[54]
[edit] Characterization
[edit] Personality
Spike is seen as something of a paradox amongst vampires in the series, and
frequently challenges vampire conventions and limitations. As a soulless
vampire, he exhibits quite a few human traits such as love, loyalty, and
aesthetic appreciation. As an ensouled vampire, Spike's need for violence
remains unapologetically intact. Spike's actions are motivated by love in all of
its incarnations (love of objects, love of life, love of a specific person).
Drusilla does, however, make it seem that all vampires are capable of exhibiting
human emotions (such as love) when she says to Buffy, "We can love quite well.
Though not always wisely."[24]
Throughout the Buffy series, Spike's character changes and develops the most out
of them all. He begins as "evil" and obsessed with Drusilla, then becomes a
depressed drunk after Drusilla leaves him for a Chaos demon because he is not
"demon enough" for her anymore. He then heard about the "Gem of Amara," a
gemstone that is rumored to give vampires the ability to walk in the sun; it was
called a kind of holy grail for the vampires because it was only assumed to be
real. Spike set his sights on finding it and ended up locating it in Sunnydale.
It was taken away from him by an angry Buffy who subsequently gave it to Angel
in Los Angeles. Spike was then captured by The Initiative and was going to be
used as a government science experiment. His next character development and
change was after he escaped the Initiative, realized he could not harm any
living being because of the chip they put in his brain, and saw his only option
as going to Buffy and the Scooby Gang for help. Their relationship then grew
slowly from a hostile tolerance to a confusing romantic relationship to a mutual
respect and understanding. Spike had setbacks along the way; there were times
when he reverted back to his former "evil" self and tried to hurt Buffy or the
Scoobies. But there were also times when he showed astounding amounts of human
emotion and responsibility for a supposedly "evil," soulless creature.
Spike is also rare among vampires because he does not fear Slayers; he seeks
them out and has killed two by the time he arrives in Sunnydale. He is proud of
this accomplishment despite the fact that his victories had more to do with the
Slayers' state of mind than a special prowess on his part (or "luck," as he
reveals in Buffy episode Fool for Love). Spike admits this to an inquiring Buffy
in the season 5 episode Fool for Love, and the impact of his revelation has
probably not been completely felt as of the completion of season 8.
Spike is intelligent, insightful and a skilled analyst. His sense of humor is
dry and sarcastic, and he carries himself with swagger.
Spike has a habit of pithy remarks and glib insults, even toward the few he does
not view as antagonists. Among his favorite targets are Angel, Xander, Giles,
and (to a lesser extent) Buffy. Joss Whedon credits this antipathy as what
convinced him in the episode "Lovers Walk" to bring Spike back as a cast
regular. As James Marsters put it, "I was supposed to be the one who stood at
the side and said, 'Buffy, you're stupid, and we're all gonna die'."[22]
Spike often nicknames people, both as insults and as terms of endearment; for
example, he calls Dawn "Little Bit" or "the Niblet". Spike also retains
something of his literary intellect from his human side, routinely referencing
poetry, songs, and literature; on occasion he even waxes poetic on the nature of
love, life, and unlife as being driven by blood, reasoning that blood is more
powerful than any supernatural force because it is what separates the living
from the dead.[14][26]
Spike often treats his vulnerability to the sun as simply an annoying
inconvenience. He drives in broad daylight in vehicles with blacked-out windows,
and on several occasions travels outside during the day using a blanket for
cover. Indeed, he has a remarkably stronger resistance to sunlight than most all
other vampires seen in the series except Angel; their elevated ability to endure
the sun should not be confused with total immunity, however.
[edit] Appearance
The character's look has been compared with rock musician Billy Idol (pictured)
Spike has a punk look which strongly resembles English rock musician Billy Idol;
humorously, Buffy claims that Billy Idol in fact stole his look from Spike. His
hair is peroxide blond for the duration of his time on Buffy and Angel, although
in flashbacks it can be seen in its natural medium brown state as well as dyed
black.[11] His nails are often painted black.
“
Bouncer: [When asked if he has seen Spike] "Yeah, yeah, I know the guy.
Billy Idol wannabe?" Buffy: "Actually, Billy Idol stole his look from--
never mind."[32]
”
A Y-shaped scar on Marsters's left eyebrow, received during a mugging,[55] was
worked into the show; make-up artist Todd McIntosh decided to shave out his
eyebrow in order to make it more prominent. He also included the scar on Spike's
"vamp face" prosthesis, albeit slightly altered as though the skin has
stretched.[56] In Spike's first appearances the wound still looks fresh, but it
gradually fades until, in Angel season 5, it is barely visible. A flashback in
"Fool for Love" reveals that Spike received the scar from the sword of the first
Slayer he killed in 1900.[5]
Spike usually wears long black leather coats, including one that he took from a
Nazi officer[11] and another that he took as a trophy from Nikki Wood, the
second Slayer he killed.[5] He wore the Slayer's black duster for over
twenty-five years. When the coat was destroyed by a bomb from the Immortal in
Italy, Spike heartbrokenly declared it to be irreplaceable; but the Italian
branch of Wolfram & Hart quickly supplied him with a whole wardrobe of new ones,
nearly identical, which he happily began wearing.[10] His trademark look
includes the leather duster, a black t-shirt or v-neck shirt and black denim
pants, usually with heavy boots or Doc Martens. He also wore a red long-sleeved
shirt fairly often, particularly during the earlier seasons of Buffy, and a
bright blue shirt early in Season 6 & 7. He explained that the shirt was
supposed to show Buffy that he had changed and give him confidence (because the
First was messing with his head and he did not want Buffy to think he was still
evil or crazy). But later, he returned to his trademark look, commenting that he
was back.
[edit] Powers and abilities
In addition to possessing the common powers and weaknesses of vampires, Spike's
age and experience makes him a highly effective, skilled, and versatile fighter
in both armed and unarmed combat. For example, he is able to briefly overcome
Illyria during a testing of her abilities prior to her powers being greatly
reduced by Wesley. Illyria criticizes his (and others') ability to adapt,
calling it "compromise."[57] He is able to withstand excessive amounts of pain
for extended periods of time, particularly when properly motivated, as seen in
the episodes "Intervention"[25] and "Showtime".[58] While not as skilled or as
sadistic as Angelus, Spike also proves himself to be effective at torture,
noting he had gained "screams, various fluids, and a name" from Doctor
Sparrow.[44] Much like Angel, he is highly proficient in various forms of
martial arts, and his typical fighting style blends karate, kung fu, and others.
Spike often displays insight and skills in perception and observation,
especially with regard to relationships and personalities, so long as the
relationship in question does not concern him personally. This ability allows
him to wield powerful psychological weapons as easily and effectively as
physical ones. For example, when he wants to create disharmony among the
Scoobies, Spike divides-and-conquers with "The Yoko Factor", exploiting tensions
that exist under the surface to alienate Buffy and her friends against each
other.[21] He explains to Buffy he was able to defeat two Slayers because he
sensed and exploited their secret desires to be free of their burden.[5] Spike's
skills of analysis allowed him to realize Willow was barely holding it together
after Oz's departure even though Giles and Buffy thought she was doing better,
to be the first to see through Tara's abusive and controlling family,[59] forced
Buffy and Angel to admit that they were more than "just friends"[14] and
identify when and why some relationships, such as between Buffy and Riley, are
not meant to last, masterfully feeding Riley's insecurities in an effort to
sabotage his relationship with Buffy, so Spike can pursue her. His analytical
skills also help him in battle from time to time; for example, in "Time Bomb",
he identifies Illyria's fighting style as a Tae Kwon Do/Brazilian Capoeira /
Ninjitsu hybrid. While many vampires cling to the mannerisms and speech patterns
prevalent at the time they were sired, Spike has been shown to easily adjust to
changing fashions and styles over the decades and displays an impressive
knowledge of both British and American popular culture, demonstrating another
aspect of his potential for analysis and adaptability.
Although capable of developing sound battle strategies, Spike (particularly in
the days before receiving his chip and being re-ensouled) often loses patience
with anything more complicated than outright attack, as mentioned in the episode
"In the Dark".
“
Spike: I had a plan. Angel: You, a plan? Spike: Yeah, a good plan. Smart.
Carefully laid out. But I got bored.
”
He is also impatient to fight the Slayer upon his initial arrival in Sunnydale;
the attack is supposed to coincide with the Night of St. Vigeous (when a
vampire's natural abilities are enhanced), but he "couldn't wait" to go after
the Slayer and recklessly leads a mass assault against Buffy at Sunnydale High,
which fails and results in the deaths of many Aurelian vampires. However, Spike
did exercise patience throughout the later half of Buffy Season Two, when he
used a wheelchair for several months after a brutal battle with the Scoobies in
the episode What's My Line left him paraplegic. Feigning weakness, he endured
torturous weeks watching Angelus sexually pursue Dru as he waited for the right
time to strike against his enemy.
Spike's "vampire constitution" provides him with an extremely high tolerance for
alcohol (which he regularly consumes in copious quantities). Due to his
experience in criminal activities, he is skilled at picking locks, hotwiring
cars, and pick-pocketing. He is also capable of easily operating various
vehicles, such as various cars, a Yamaha XJR400 motorcycle ("Bargaining"), and a
Winnebago ("Spiral"). He has also been shown using video game systems and a
computer, treating injuries, and playing poker and pool. Spike is also seen
speaking/understanding Latin, Luganda (a language of Uganda, where he meets the
demon shaman), and the language of Fyarl Demons, two of whom he once employed as
underlings during his pre-Sunnydale days. He is also shown to be capable of
recognizing literature; in the last episode of season five, he paraphrases a
line from the St. Crispin's Day Speech while in conversation with Giles after
Buffy tells them her plan of attack on Glory.
When Spike was transformed into a ghost-like intangible state following the
destruction of Sunnydale and the Hellmouth and his subsequent materialization at
Wolfram & Hart, he was capable of walking through solid objects. He was
initially unable to make contact with objects around him until he learned how to
focus his abilities through desire, allowing him to make brief contact with
people and things if he concentrated enough. This ability was relatively useless
in a fight; he was unable to pick up a wooden bar to hit the demon Tezcatcatl in
"The Cautionary Tale of Numero Cinco", and required a few moments to properly
punch a cyborg strangling Gunn in "Lineage". Naturally, he lost these
capabilities when he was recorporealized by Lindsey.
[edit] Unproduced spin-off movie
In 2004, Joss Whedon set plans for a Spike movie. The film, if ever greenlit,
would star James Marsters, Alyson Hannigan and Amy Acker. At a convention, Acker
stated the film was not going ahead due to money issues.[60][61]
[edit] Reception
Spike was placed first in SFX magazine's "Top 50 Vampires" on television and
movies list.[62] The same list featured rival Angel in the third place. Spike
was described as an "antihero in the true sense of the word, Spike is morally
ambiguous and ready to fight pretty much anyone, for fun. But underneath it all,
he loves deeply and earnestly in a way that remains achingly human. Although,
ironically, his personality remains pretty much the same, whether he has a soul
or not – in stark (and more entertaining) contrast to Angel." Other Buffyverse
vampires to appear on the list included Drusilla (at 10th place), Darla (at 25th
place), Vampire Willow (at 32nd place), Harmony Kendall (at 31st place), and the
Anya (Emma Caulfield) (5.01–7.22, recurring previously)
Anya is a 1,120-year-old former vengeance demon (Anyanka) who specialized in avenging scorned women. After being forcibly stripped of her demonic powers by Giles, the character is forced to re-learn how to be an ordinary human, a journey which is portrayed as both comical (e.g., her fear of rabbits and her love of money) and poignant (e.g. her grief over Joyce's death). Her story is largely focused on her romantic relationship with Xander, and like many characters on the show, she is portrayed as morally ambivalent.
Anyanka 'Anya' Jenkins
Buffy the Vampire Slayer character
Emma Caulfield as Anya Jenkins in the fifth season episode "The Body", initially
airing in 2001.
First appearance
"The Wish" (1998)
Portrayed by
Emma Caulfield
Information
Affiliation
Scooby Gang
Classification
Vengeance demon
Notable powers
Wish-granting.
Superhuman physical attributes, teleportation, telekinesis, invulnerability.
Anya Christina Emmanuella Jenkins is a fictional character created by Joss
Whedon for the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She also appears in
the comic book series based on the television show. Portrayed by Emma Caulfield,
the character appears as a guest star in the third and fourth seasons of the
show before becoming a series regular in the show's fifth, sixth, and seventh
season. The character made her last television appearance in 2003, appearing in
the series finale of the show that aired on May 20, 2003. A consistent
idiosyncrasy of the character is her ever-changing hair color and style,
something she humorously alludes to herself.
Within the series' narrative, Anya was originally human, but spent over a
thousand years as Anyanka, a vengeance demon, wreaking havoc by granting the
wishes of women who had been wronged by men. The character becomes human again
in her first appearance, and is forced to learn what it means to be human again
in subsequent episodes. Primarily, this is used by the writers for comic relief;
Anya has a very poor sense of what behaviors are appropriate, and speaks very
bluntly and honestly. However, the writers have also used this for more poignant
purposes, such as when Anya finds herself struggling to deal with death.
Contents
[hide] 1 Biography 1.1 Character history
1.2 Human onwards
1.3 Return to Vengeance Demon
1.4 Human Again
1.5 Post-Sunnydale
2 Powers and abilities
3 Personality 3.1 Bunny phobia
4 Academic analysis
5 Appearances
6 Merchandise
7 References
8 External links
[edit] Biography
[edit] Character history
Anyanka 'Anya Jenkins' was born as Aud in the 9th century in Sjornjost, a small
Scandinavian village. Aud grew up raising rabbits and became an outsider in her
community, which dismissed her as "odd", because of her strange mannerisms and
out-of-the-ordinary ideas (such as not wanting to sell the rabbits she had been
breeding, but instead giving them to people in the village as gifts). She
eventually falls in love with the boorish Olaf, a Viking warrior who enjoys
hunting trolls and drinking at the bar. In 880, a furious Aud discovers that
Olaf has cheated on her with a bar matron named Rannveig, and takes her revenge
on him by using magic to transform him into a troll. Aud had previously used
magic against her past lovers as well, casting spells to create boils on the
penis, for example, but this act of vengeance against Olaf attracts the
attention of the demon D'Hoffryn, who offers to transform her into a vengeance
demon for scorned women. D'Hoffryn gives Aud the new name Anyanka, Patron Saint
Of The Women Scorned, and a pendant which gives her the power to grant wishes.
Around 1199, Anyanka goes to the Koskov valleys above the Urals to curse an
unfaithful man. She witnesses a sorcerer's Ascension into pure demon form. The
death and carnage — only a few people survive — shock even her. Around 1580,
Anyanka meets Dracula, and later is in Salem, Massachusetts, during the witch
trials of 1692.
In the 19th century, Anyanka becomes a close friend and fierce competitor of the
vengeance demon known as Halfrek, whose specialty is avenging wronged children.
They spend time together during the Crimean War. Anyanka impresses "Hallie" with
a granted wish in Saint Petersburg, Russia, that sparks a revolution in 1905. In
1914, Anyanka travels to Chicago, Illinois, to exact vengeance on a man named
Stewart Burns, turning him into a demon and sending him to a hell dimension to
be tortured for all eternity.
Anyanka arrives at Sunnydale High in 1998 (in the episode "The Wish") as a
student named Anya Emerson.[1] She's come to Sunnydale in response to the
distress of Cordelia, who is upset after catching her boyfriend, Xander Harris,
kissing their friend Willow. After some prompting, Cordelia states: "I wish that
Buffy Summers had never come to Sunnydale." Anya shows her true demon face to
Cordelia and says, "Done." and the world changes. Now they're in an alternative
reality in which Buffy has not come to Sunnydale and the vampire population has
multiplied and gained in power. Giles meets with Cordelia before she dies and
manages to discern what has happened. He subsequently summons Anyanka and
destroys her necklace. As a result, Anya is made mortal again and the world
returns to normal.
[edit] Human onwards
Caulfield said, "As far as I know, I don't think Joss Whedon ever intended to
have Anya around for more than one episode." However, Anya returns in the
episode "Doppelgangland", duping Willow into assisting in a failed magical
attempt to recover the necklace which was her power center, lost when Giles
destroyed it to reverse the wish granted for Cordelia. Now with human feelings,
she yearns to attend the school prom in spite of her abhorrence of all men;
ironically, her only hope for a date is the last man she was sent to punish,
Xander. Caulfield says, "[Whedon] found this great way to have her interact with
the storylines that had developed throughout the entire [third] season."[2]
Anya develops feelings for Xander and asks him out again just before graduation.
Her romantic plans are foiled when he tells her of the Mayor's plan for his own
"Ascension," a transformation into pure demon, at the graduation ceremony. Anya
decides to flee Sunnydale and invites Xander to join her, saying when she thinks
something could happen to him, she "feels bad inside, like [she] might vomit".
Xander refuses because he's got "friends on the line," and can't abandon them.
She leaves without him.
Anya returns to Sunnydale early in Season Four, still infatuated with Xander.
She seduces him (in the episode "The Harsh Light of Day"). Her lack of
experience with people causes her to make straightforward, often tactless
remarks, which soon put her at odds with other Scooby Gang members, especially
Willow, who has little trust for the ex-demon. Anya's tactlessness is played
both for humor and to highlight the truth in situations where others are
reluctant to be frank. This is seen most poignantly in "The Body" when her
inability to comprehend Buffy's mother's death leads to inappropriate remarks
which at first make others angry, but then allow for catharsis and comfort.
Anya becomes a regular in Season Five of the show. While playing The Game of
Life, she discovers her love for money and capitalism (as opposed to her belief
in Communism during the early 20th century and her charitable attitude of her
years as Aud). Anya's budding retail skills encourage Giles to hire her as a
cashier at The Magic Box. In the episode, "Checkpoint", Anya is questioned by
members of the Watchers' Council, and invents the full name Anya Christina
Emmanuella Jenkins, and claims to have been born on the Fourth of July in
Indiana.
During an impending apocalypse, brought about by Glory at the end of Season
Five, Xander proposes to Anya and they are engaged for most of Season Six.
Xander's doubts grow, however, and it is not difficult for Stewart Burns -
escaped from Hell and impersonating Xander's future self - to persuade him to
leave Anya at the wedding by showing him an illusionary life where Anya
apparently cheats on Xander and is later killed in an argument between the two
("Hell's Bells"). Grief-stricken, Anya is vulnerable to D'Hoffryn's coaxing, and
becomes a vengeance demon again.
[edit] Return to Vengeance Demon
In the Season Six episode "Entropy" Anya returns to Sunnydale. The audience can
see her as a vengeance demon but the other characters are unaware until
"Villains." Anya cannot find anyone who wishes vengeance on Xander and so she
takes comfort in sex with Spike, an act which puts her relationship and
friendship with Xander and Buffy in jeopardy. Spike nearly wishes for some kind
of vengeance upon Xander, but after seeing how much her actions hurt him, Anya
stops him, unable to go through with it. In the Season Six finale, Willow
destroys The Magic Box, leaving Anya jobless in the mortal world. Anya does not
enjoy her return to being a vengeance demon—her experience as a human has led to
empathy, which makes exacting vengeance too painful for her to manage. She
spends a summer granting half-hearted wishes and gains a reputation among demons
as "Miss Soft-Serve".
When asked what direction she would like to see Anya's character go, Emma
Caulfield said she hoped that in Season Seven Anya would become "kind of a
badass." Caulfield said that Anya has always been strong in unorthodox ways, but
"I'd like to see a more blatant display of her strength."[3] Appropriately,
after Halfrek encourages Anya to return to her former level of work, Anya exacts
a terrible vengeance on a group of college boys by unleashing a spider-like
Grimslaw demon on them. This results in a battle with Buffy, in which they are
almost evenly matched. The battle is interrupted when Willow shows up and
summons D'Hoffryn. D'Hoffryn asks Anya what she wants, and she asks that her
vengeance be reversed. D'Hoffryn tells her the price will be the life of a
vengeance demon; Anya agrees, assuming it is she who will die, but D'Hoffryn
summons Halfrek, incinerating her before Anya. "Never go for the kill, when you
can go for the pain" he tells the distressed Anya, and strips her of her powers,
making her once again mortal.
[edit] Human Again
Anya decides that she has been too dependent on others and resolves to find an
independent purpose in life for herself. She eventually rejoins the Scooby Gang
as Season Seven focuses on the long fight against the First Evil and eventually
becomes friends with Xander; although Xander and Anya still love each other,
they never officially resume their relationship.
In the Series Finale, "Chosen", Anya fights with the others in the climactic
battle against the First Evil and is brutally slain from behind, bisected by a
Bringer's sword. Her body lies in the school's remains although Xander attempts
to locate her while fleeing the collapsing building. After Sunnydale collapses
into the Hellmouth, Andrew Wells comforts Xander by telling him that Anya had
died saving his life, to which Xander tearfully replies, "That's my girl, always
doing the stupid thing."
In an interview with Buffy The Vampire Slayer/Angel magazine #93, Emma Caulfield
stated that she was okay with her character's abrupt death, stating, "She didn't
get a big, maudlin send-off, it was very quick and to the point - very Anya in
that respect." Although later, at Wizard World Philadelphia 2009 she said she
didn't realize it was going to be abrupt and without fanfare, and would have
appreciated a little something more.[4]
Joss Whedon joked at the Nocturnal convention in 2001 Anya was originally
supposed to die during the Season Five finale, "The Gift", but he had to keep
her alive because Emma Caulfield couldn't keep still while Xander was carrying
Anya's supposedly lifeless body.[5]
[edit] Post-Sunnydale
It was stated that Anya would return in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer season
eight comic book series, even with Joss Whedon telling MTV that she was
"definitely dead... but that doesn't mean she's gone."[6] However, Dark Horse
Comics editor Scott Allie stated that there were no current plans for Anya to
appear. As of 2013, it is still unclear if Anya will return in the comics.[7]
[edit] Powers and abilities
Anyanka has the power to grant wishes made by women seeking revenge against men
who have wronged them, even changing reality to accommodate these wishes, a gift
which is supported by her ability to detect women's emotional pain at a
distance. She has supernatural strength, teleportation (although in "Same Time,
Same Place" she mentions that her use of teleportation is temporarily limited
and requires bureaucratic paperwork), telekinesis and rapid healing, being able
to survive impalement. As a demon she will not die of old age, having lived over
a thousand years, but can be killed if her body is sufficiently damaged.
With over a thousand years of experience as a former vengeance demon, Anya's
knowledge of demonology is immense. Although her native language is Old Norse,
Anyanka/Anya speaks fluent English as well as some French, Latin and can read
and speak Ancient Sumerian. It is implied that she can speak any human language,
as she has granted wishes in many countries all over the world throughout many
centuries.
Anya also exhibits some basic knowledge of magic, often commenting on Willow's
spellcasting and interest in magic with a reasonable degree of insight, and she
occasionally participates in the casting of spells herself ("Doppelgangland").
As a human, Anya's experience and practice of combat from her time as a demon
allows her to be an effective fighter, as seen in the series finale.
[edit] Personality
Commenting on the personality of her character, Caulfield said, "Anya remains
mortal and ambivalent. She's just struggling with being human, and really, don't
we all struggle with that from time to time? She's very irreverent - and
definitely bitter."[2] Anya states in the "Selfless" flashback that she likes to
bowl and she's "good with math".
[edit] Bunny phobia
Anya's irrational fear of rabbits (leporiphobia) is established for the first
time in the Season Four Halloween episode "Fear, Itself", in which she appears
in a bunny costume after Xander tells her to come to the party as something
"scary." Her phobia becomes a running joke for the remainder of the series. In
"The Gift", Anya sees a stuffed rabbit in the basement of The Magic Box (while
looking for the Dagon Sphere with Xander), causing her to scream and exclaim,
"Who would put something like that there?!" In "Once More, With Feeling", Anya
sings, "Bunnies aren't just cute like everybody supposes. They got them hoppy
legs and twitchy little noses, and what's with all the carrots? What do they
need such good eyesight for anyway?", a verse reminiscent of Willow's speech
about spiders ("Nightmares"). In "Tabula Rasa", while suffering from memory
loss, she repeatedly casts a spell that does nothing more than cause rabbits to
appear in increasing numbers. The phobia also manifests itself in her final
moments. As the final battle approaches, Andrew Wells suggests she "picture
happy things: a lake, candy canes, bunnies..." The change is drastic and
instantaneous. She confidently raises her sword, saying grimly, "Bunnies.
Floppy, hoppy, bunnies."
In her "origins" episode, "Selfless", Anya (then known as Aud), is surrounded by
rabbits without showing any signs of distress over their presence.
[edit] Academic analysis
Anya has been the subject of at least one academic article. For Tamy Burnett,
"Anya ... stands alone as the only woman in the Buffyverse to remain unshamed
and unpunished for her expressions of sexuality". Burnett argues that, among
Buffy's female characters, despite their varying versions of personal and/or
mental strength, Anya is the only one who is truly sexually liberated. Buffy and
her friends tend to be "girly girls", who learn that "Sex is bad" and have their
transgressions of traditional gender performance punished; Burnett cites the
loss of Angel's soul, punitive interpretations of Tara's death, and Willow's
transformation into Warren among other consequences. Faith comes "the closest"
after Anya to breaking these traditional patterns because, while she is "just as
sexual and outspoken" as Anya, she pivotally does not achieve Anya's acceptance
within the group; for Anya, this "legitimizes her perspective". She identifies
this motif with typical traits of horror fiction, citing Dawn Heinecken's
feminist analysis in Warrior Women of Television. Anya frankly admits to
masturbation and to her favourite sexual activities with Xander, and assumes
that others share her attitudes. To Burnett, Anya's death in "Chosen" positions
Anya as "failing to achieve [her] ultimate narrative legitimacy". Burnett
concludes that "Anya's attitude toward sexual desire marks her as transgressing
traditional forms of female sexuality, a significant break to the pattern by
which other women on the show are constrained."[8]
Riley Finn (Marc Blucas) (4.11–5.10, recurring previously and afterward)
Riley is Buffy's first serious boyfriend after Angel. He is initially an operative in a military organization called "The Initiative" that uses science and military technology to hunt down HSTs or "hostile sub-terrestrials" (demons). Riley is Angel's opposite, an Iowa-born-and-raised man whose strength lies in his military secret identity. Buffy's superior physical strength causes him insecurity, particularly after his medically enhanced powers were removed. This, combined with Buffy's inability to truly emotionally connect with him, eventually causes him to leave in the middle of Season 5.
Riley Finn
Buffy the Vampire Slayer character
First appearance
"The Freshman" (1999)
Created by
Joss Whedon
Portrayed by
Marc Blucas
Information
Affiliation
The Initiative
Scooby Gang
Twilight
Riley Finn is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television
series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Portrayed by Marc Blucas, Riley was introduced
in the 1999 season four premiere episode, "The Freshman", and Blucas was part of
the series credited cast for the second part of season four and the first part
of season five. Most notably, Riley is one of three long-term romantic interests
for series' heroine Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar).
Whedon intended Riley to be the antithesis of Buffy's boyfriend of the past
three seasons, Angel (David Boreanaz), who now headed his own spin-off show. In
stark contrast to broody, often pensive Angel, Riley is optimistic, trustworthy
and reliable, and in theory presents Buffy with her first opportunity for a
"normal" romantic relationship. However, Riley also leads a double life: he is
both teaching assistant at UC Sunnydale and a member of the Initiative, a
government-sponsored special operations team which both researches and combats
the demons which roam Sunnydale. This allows him to interact with Buffy both in
her civilian life and assist her with her duties as Slayer; while Buffy has
supernatural powers associated with her role, Riley must rely instead on his
extensive military training.
In the show's fifth season, writers experimented with making Riley a more
complex character, and so depicted Riley beginning to "fray around the edges".
This storyline culminated in Riley being written out of the series, in 2000. In
2002, Blucas returned for a final televised appearance in the show's sixth
season, where he is seen to have moved on from Buffy and married. Subsequently,
the character appears in Expanded Universe material such as the canonical comic
book continuation to the series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight
(2007–11). In Season Eight, the precise nature of Riley's role in the storyline
is unclear for much of the story; writer Jane Espenson, however, wrote a Riley
one-shot comic book focusing on Riley and his wife.
Contents
[hide] 1 Character history
2 Writing and acting
3 Appearances 3.1 Canonical appearances
4 Notes and references
[edit] Character history
A native of Huxley, Iowa, Riley was Buffy Summers' boyfriend for parts of
Seasons Four and Five. He is first introduced during Buffy's relationship and
conflict with Parker Abrams. Riley realizes his feelings for Buffy after
punching Parker for an inappropriate comment he makes regarding their night
together. Even though he led a double life as part of a secret government
organization known as the Initiative, Buffy found some normalcy in Riley as a
regular college guy and someone to whom she could relate. Initially, each kept
the other from knowing their respective secret lives, but the truth came out
during the events in the Emmy-nominated episode "Hush."
Buffy and Riley fought demons together and continued saving each other's lives
and the world, although Riley was never quite let into Buffy's inner circle.
Initially, Riley automatically assumed that all demons were evil, but discovered
that demons are capable of both good and evil just as humans are after assisting
in saving Oz from the Initiative complex. Having been torn between the Scooby
Gang and the Initiative for some time, Riley decided to leave the Initiative
upon discovering the extent of its corruption, and spent the remainder of the
season in hiding within the ruins of Sunnydale High.
The Initiative was destroyed at the end of Season Four, and Riley was relieved
of his military standing. He was left at loose ends, and his behavior became
reckless. Over time, Riley began to see himself as below Buffy in strength, and
began to push his body well past its limits. In "Out of My Mind," it was
discovered that the drugs that Professor Walsh had secretly fed him were causing
Riley's pain receptors to shut down and his heartbeat to spike, and would
eventually have killed him. Even with this knowledge, Riley initially refused
medical treatment from the government out of paranoia, though Buffy eventually
convinced him to do so. Rendered a normal human by the procedure, Riley's
insecurities and feelings of weakness only increased, and he became increasingly
frustrated with Buffy's seeming inability to open up to and be honest with him.
Seeking thrills, and wondering what Buffy seemed to find so appealing about
vampires - Buffy having allowed both Angel and Dracula to drink from her - Riley
began to let vampires feed from him, which Buffy discovered in the episode "Into
the Woods" when Spike reveals Riley at the vampire's nest. His behavior, as well
as Spike's manipulations and a sense that Buffy would never truly love him, led
to their breakup. Riley left Sunnydale to join another black ops army unit
fighting demons elsewhere, and left the show.
Riley returned in the Season Six episode "As You Were," in which he showed up
unexpectedly, tracking a demon about to hatch eggs that could wipe out
Sunnydale. However, he did not return to make up with Buffy, having recently
gotten married to a fellow demon hunter named Sam (Ivana Miličević). The battle
done, Riley left Sunnydale, never to return again. He was, however, mentioned in
Season Seven when Buffy asked for the Initiative to remove the malfunctioning
chip in Spike's head.
In canonical comic book continuation Season Eight issue "Time of Your Life, Part
IV," it is revealed that Riley is one of villain Twilight's followers, as he is
present in the laboratory with Warren Mears, Amy Madison, and Twilight, and
bears his mark. Samantha Finn has thus far not appeared in Season Eight.
Pretending to be Buffy's "inside man," he arranged for their rendezvous in New
York City. Later, seen in "Retreat, Part II," Riley is with Twilight and his
other followers as they try and track the Scooby Gang through their use of
magic; Riley tries to convince Twilight that the results could be a mistake of
the scanning technology. He is also intrigued by Twilight's remark that he
"knows" Buffy. During a large battle between the Slayers and Twilight's forces,
Buffy recovers an injured Riley, revealing to the other characters that Riley
was a double agent for her in an attempt to figure out Twilight's plans and
identity.
Riley also appears in the first issue of the follow-up series Season Nine; the
structure of "Freefall, Part I" suggests that Riley—like Spike, Xander, Willow
and others—could have been Buffy's possible one-night-stand after the party she
hosts at her apartment in San Francisco. Riley remains married to Sam. With the
end of magic, Riley now uses his military resources to watch for ordinary
terrorists.
[edit] Writing and acting
Marc Blucas was asked how the character was described to him during the audition
process, he replied that "They said that Riley is a nice, charming guy, and
there's going to be some kind of dichotomy, some kind of double role going on.
But that was never really specified."[1] In contrast to both Angel and Spike,
Riley held out the possibility of normality in Buffy's life. He is also notable
in that he is the only boyfriend of Buffy who was accepted by and developed a
friendship with Xander Harris, who usually displayed jealousy of the males in
her life.
Whedon defended the character of Riley Finn, "The important thing for us was to
find a character that was the anti-Angel and to have Buffy go through something
very different, part of which was the question, 'How do I get over Angel?' That
was the same thing the audience was going through. We knew it wasn't going to be
easy and it was very hard trying to find somebody. But Marc [Blucas] has a
quality that I love very much: he has sort of an un-David-like, firm, strong,
trustworthy quality. I always think of him as Gary Cooper."[2] During Season
Five, writer/co-executive producer, Marti Noxon, noted that they were making
Riley a more tortured complex character, "He's starting to fray around the
edges. That's very compelling to me - that this straight guy is starting to get
a little strange."[3]
Actor Christian Kane also auditioned for Riley Finn. Kane went on to play the
role of Lindsey McDonald on the spin-off show Angel. Kane says he played his
audition for Riley "perhaps a little less than wholesome", which he feels
resulted in Joss Whedon later casting him as a darker character.[4]
Dawn Summers (Michelle Trachtenberg) (5.02–7.22, appeared previously)
Dawn is introduced in Season 5 as Buffy's fourteen-year-old younger sister, sent to Buffy in human form as a disguise for the Key, a dangerous magical artifact sought by a hellgod. Although Dawn's genesis is magical, she functions as a complete and normal teenage girl, and, after her true nature has been revealed, she is accepted and loved as a sister, daughter, and friend. Although Buffy initially tries to shelter Dawn from her work as Slayer, Dawn later becomes a useful member of the Scooby Gang.
Dawn Summers
Buffy the Vampire Slayer character
First appearance
"Buffy vs. Dracula" (2000)
Created by
Joss Whedon
Portrayed by
Michelle Trachtenberg
Information
Affiliation
Scooby Gang
Dawn Summers is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon and introduced by Marti Noxon and David Fury on the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, portrayed by Michelle Trachtenberg. She made her debut in the premiere episode of the show's fifth season, and subsequently appeared in every episode of its remaining three seasons. Within the series, Dawn is the little sister of main character Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar), a girl chosen by fate to be a vampire Slayer. Whedon introduced Dawn to the series because he wanted to introduce a character with whom Buffy could have an intensely emotional non-romantic relationship.
After years of foreshadowing, Dawn was introduced at the start of the fifth season as part of a large in-story retcon: characters accepted Dawn's presence as if she had always been there, and as if Buffy always had a sister. As the series went on, the significance of Dawn's arrival is revealed to the series' other characters and they come to understand that she has not always been Buffy's sister, or indeed a sentient being; Dawn had originally been the mystical 'key' to unlocking dimensions, and was made into Buffy's sister so the Slayer would protect her. Dawn is, however, a real girl, Buffy's biological sister, and has real memories of her fictional childhood. She struggles in a very human way when she discovers the truth about her origins, and later endures problems with self-harm and kleptomania. The show's sixth and seventh seasons, as well as its canonical comic book continuation, follow Dawn's journey towards adulthood.
Dawn is first introduced as Buffy's (Sarah Michelle Gellar) younger sister at the end of Buffy season five premiere "Buffy vs. Dracula", though Buffy had been previously established as an only child. Initially, the mystery of Dawn's sudden existence is not acknowledged in the series, with the other characters accepting her as a part of the status quo. Four episodes later Buffy discovers Dawn is in fact a mystical object known as The Key; a group of monks transformed The Key into human form and sent it to the Slayer for protection from the villainous Glory (Clare Kramer). The memories of Buffy and her associates were altered, along with relevant records, so that they believed her to have always existed as Buffy's sister. She is shown to look up greatly to Willow and Tara and has a crush on Xander. She also is friendly with Spike, who is as protective of her as Buffy herself. When Dawn learns of her origin, she resorts to self-harm and runs away from home, until Buffy assures her they are real sisters no matter what, securing it with a blood oath. Her relationship with Buffy, having been portrayed with a typical sister dynamic in the first half of the season, changes when she discovers what she is. The two become closer as Dawn becomes Buffy's sole focus once she drops out from college to protect her, going as far as to warn her friends she is prepared to kill anyone who attempts to go near Dawn in the finale. Dawn suffers more pain when her mother (Kristine Sutherland) dies unexpectedly from a brain aneurysm, which leads to Dawn resorting to black magic to try to bring her back from the grave, an action she immediately reverses upon realizing the consequences of her actions. It is eventually revealed that Dawn's purpose as The Key is to open portals to alternate dimensions, a power the hell-god Glory wishes to exploit to return home. When Glory successfully uses Dawn's blood to break down the dimensional barriers, Buffy sacrifices her own life, realizing that their blood is now the same, to end the apocalypse and save Dawn. Buffy's sacrifice also neutralizes the power of The Key, giving Dawn the opportunity of a normal life.
The following season opening sees Dawn struggle with abandonment issues, as well as her escalating kleptomania. Having been devastated by her sister's death, Dawn is overjoyed when Willow (Alyson Hannigan) casts a spell to bring her back to life. However, with Buffy spiralling into a deep depression, Dawn feels highly neglected and is often seen alone and seeking attention from her sister as well as other members of the group. She later experiences her first kiss with a vampire named Justin, whom she is reluctantly forced to stake (her first vampire kill) when he tries to turn her. Dawn's isolation from the other characters reaches its apex when she inadvertently makes a wish to the vengeance demon Halfrek (Kali Rocha) which results in trapping everyone who enters the Summers house. Halfrek herself is inadvertently trapped, and undoes the curse to free herself; meanwhile Dawn's kleptomania and feelings of neglect by her friends and family are exposed. Buffy vows to mend their relationship and starts spending more time with her sister, whilst still trying to shield her from her life as a Slayer – much to Dawn's disappointment as she is eager to help Buffy in her duties. While helping Buffy battle demons in the season finale, Dawn proves herself to be capable in a fight, finally earning her sister's respect and a promise to train her.
In the final season, Dawn becomes more grown-up and a full-fledged member of the "Scooby Gang" as witnessed in the first few episodes as she aids Buffy and Xander during Willow's absence and is trained by Buffy in combat. Falling victim to a love spell in the episode "Him", she displays dangerous behavior such as attacking people and trying to commit suicide to prove her "love" for classmate RJ Brooks. While home alone one night, Dawn is forced to perform a solo exorcism to protect what she believes to be her mother from a demon, though it is revealed to be The First Evil attempting to cause Dawn to doubt her bond with Buffy, which she does for several episodes following this. Dawn's feelings of neglect begin to resurface as Buffy spends time training the potentials now living in their home. After wrongly believing herself to be a Potential Slayer, Xander (Nicholas Brendon) explains to Dawn that being normal is perhaps the hardest burden of all, as nobody understands the pain of being overlooked–as he has been in Dawn's shoes. Dawn then falls into a watcher-esque role offering the group answers from research, such as ways to communicate with The Bringers and translating texts given to Buffy in a 'slayer keepsake'. When Buffy tricks her into leaving town before the impending apocalypse, Dawn adamantly returns to fight against the First, during which she battles alongside Xander and once again proves her worth by killing several Ubervamps and survives. Dawn was intended to appear in the Angel episode "The Girl in Question", but Michelle Trachtenberg was unavailable for filming, so Andrew Wells (played by Tom Lenk) replaced her.[3]
[edit] Concept and creation
The arrival of Dawn Summers is foreshadowed in cryptic dream sequences in both
the Season Three finale "Graduation Day, Part Two" and the Season Four episode
"This Year's Girl", in which a still-comatose Faith says, while making a bed
with Buffy in her bedroom, "Little sis coming, I know." Buffy replies, "So much
to do before she gets here."(the first appearance of Dawn is in Buffy's room) In
the season four finale, "Restless", Tara warns Buffy to "be back before Dawn."
According to Buffy creator Joss Whedon, the introduction of Dawn in Season Five
was partly so protagonist Buffy Summers could experience a "really important,
intense emotional relationship" with someone other than a boyfriend. "She's as
intense as she was in Season Two with Angelus, but it's about her sister,"
Whedon says. "To me that was really beautiful."[4] Trachtenberg says she was
thrust into the role without knowing much about Dawn's personality; she
describes her initial meeting with Joss Whedon as "Alright, welcome to the cast,
you're a teenager, you're a Key, have fun."[5]
[edit] Characterization
In the beginning of season five Dawn is portrayed as younger than her age of
fourteen. She is seen to be immature and klutzy, breaking objects and keeping
diaries. Buffy and Joyce also appear to treat her thus as they are shown finding
someone to babysit her, something they later become relaxed with as seen in "No
Place Like Home". Joss Whedon stated that Dawn was originally going to be a
younger character, which the writing reflecting this, but after Sarah Michelle
Gellar suggested Trachtenberg for the role they raised her age.
Tara Maclay (Amber Benson) (4.10–6.20, recurring as minor character)
Tara is introduced first as a fellow member of a Wicca group during Willow's first year of college. Their close friendship evolves into an ongoing romantic relationship; their relationship attracted significant attention as one of few featured same-sex relationships on television at that time. Tara uses her magical skills to assist the Scooby Gang in their fight against evil, and she struggles with how to deal with Willow's growing addiction to magic. Tara is killed by a bullet intended for Buffy, her death triggering Willow's transformation into "Dark Willow".
Tara Maclay
Buffy the Vampire Slayer character
Benson as Tara in the episode Once More, with Feeling
First appearance
"Hush"[1] (1999)
Created by
Joss Whedon
Portrayed by
Amber Benson
Information
Affiliation
Scooby Gang
Classification
Witch
Notable powers
Magic
Tara Maclay is a fictional character created for the fantasy television series
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003). She was developed by Joss Whedon and
portrayed by Amber Benson from the fourth to the sixth season until the
character's death. Tara is a shy young woman with magical talents who falls in
love with Willow Rosenberg, one of the core characters. Together, they help
Buffy Summers, who has been given superhuman powers to defeat evil forces in the
fictional town of Sunnydale.
Willow was a popular character when Tara was introduced, and the onset of their
relationship was met with some resistance from fans. Tara grows from a reserved
girl who is unsure of herself to being the moral center of Buffy's circle of
friends, named the Scooby Gang. She is the most virtuous character in the
series. Her relationship with Willow is consistently positive, and the first
depiction of a lesbian couple on U.S. television. Tara is killed by a stray
gunshot toward the end of the sixth season, causing Willow to go on a rampage.
Series writers and producers received angry protests from some fans when Tara
was killed, including accusations of homophobia. Whedon upheld that it was the
necessary course to take to propel Willow's story arc further; both the show's
producers and Amber Benson deny that any malicious intent was the cause. Tara
was included in AfterEllen.com's Top 50 Lesbian and Bisexual Characters, ranking
at No. 15.[2]
Contents
[hide] 1 Creation and casting
2 Progression 2.1 Seasons 4 and 5
2.2 Season 6
3 Death and response
4 Cultural impact
5 References
6 Bibliography
[edit] Creation and casting
Tara is introduced in the fourth season episode "Hush" as a college student who
attends a Wicca meeting where Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan) goes to find
some like-minded people. Tara is hesitant to speak out during the meeting and
has a pronounced stammer that returns throughout the series when she is upset.
She notices Willow suggest discussing spellcasting, but both are drowned out by
the rest of the group. Tara was created to be a friend with whom Willow could
learn magic and develop her skills intended to appear for only a couple
episodes. Amber Benson had known Hannigan previously, but did not tell her she
was up for the part. Benson almost missed a callback audition because she left
town, but the casting department postponed the session so she could return and
read. When she did, Hannigan found her on set and upon learning she was up for
the role, told Whedon to hire Benson at the same moment Benson got the call from
her agent that she had won the part.[3] Benson and Hannigan had such chemistry
that the relationship was written to be more intimate. In "Hush", Tara and
Willow join hands to move a heavy object telekinetically. After it was completed
and edited, Whedon and the producers found it a very sensual scene. Network
executives also noticed the chemistry. After some discussion Whedon informed
Benson and Hannigan that the characters would become lovers.[4]
Willow was featured from the beginning of the series and already had a strong
fanbase. Earlier in the fourth season, she had a boyfriend named Oz (Seth
Green), who left after sleeping with another woman. Oz returns in the episode
"New Moon Rising", determined to make up for leaving her. It is the first time
Tara is introduced to the Scooby Gang as a whole, and Willow must choose between
her and Oz. She favors Tara in the end, causing some of Willow and Oz's fans to
react angrily on the fansite message boards, leaving homophobic remarks and
characterizing Benson as fat and unattractive. Benson, who was referred to as
"astoundingly non-Hollywood" by a Scottish journalist,[5] frequented the boards
and read the comments, finding them hurtful and taking some of them personally.
She responded, protesting that she was at 5 feet, 4 inches (1.63 m) and 118
pounds (54 kg), not at all overweight, although she appears heavier than her
more petite costars. She went on to write:
You can judge me and Tara for being "fat", "gay", and "shy". I suppose that my
being on TV gives you that right. But I DO NOT have to read what you say. I have
enjoyed being a lurker. But my feelings just can't take the criticism. Those of
you (you know who you are) with sensitivity will understand. Thank you for
sticking up for us. Tara and I both appreciate it. I think that being a
beautiful, heavy, lesbian witch rocks! No matters what happens, I'm glad I get
the chance to walk in Tara's shoes.[6]
Network executives encouraged the lesbian element in the relationship, but put
strict guidelines on what could be shown. For several episodes in the fourth
season, Tara and Willow's friendship grows as they practice magic. To work
within the censorship imposed on their relationship, writers used allusions to
spells and witchcraft to symbolize their affection and growing sexuality.[7][8]
Willow does not tell her friends about Tara for several episodes, instead
wishing to spend time alone with her in Tara's room, where she could have
something just for herself.[9] Tara is unwaveringly supportive and committed to
Willow.
[edit] Progression
[edit] Seasons 4 and 5
When Tara and Willow meet, their proficiency at magic is about the same although
Tara reveals that she has been practicing magic for most of her life. Willow,
however, is inherently talented and begins to progress much faster than Tara
through the fifth season, including experimentations in dark magic. Tara
struggles with understanding her place among the Scoobies with Buffy (Sarah
Michelle Gellar), the leader; Xander Harris (Nicholas Brendon), Willow's friend
since childhood; and Rupert Giles (Anthony Stewart Head), their mentor. Tara's
primary role throughout the series is that of Willow's partner. She feels
somewhat useless until the fifth season episode "Family" when the entire Scooby
Gang makes it clear that she is unquestionably a part of them. The episode
presents some of Tara's blood family: a cold, strident father who has lied to
her all her life, telling her that her magical powers are a result of her being
half-demon, an intimidating brother, and a judgmental cousin, all of whom Tara
dismisses at the end of the episode.[10] Tara later reveals in "The Body" that
her mother died when she was 17. No more of her backstory is revealed in the
series.
As Willow's character is made more self-assured from earlier seasons, Tara takes
over some of the role of being placed in peril and needing to be rescued. The
fifth season's primary villain, or Big Bad, is Glory, a goddess too powerful for
Buffy to fight alone. Glory assaults Tara, stealing her sanity, and prompting
Willow to go searching for retribution. Buffy scholar Ian Shuttleworth writes
that Benson was able to "admirably" portray the same range of emotions inherent
in Tara although the character loses her identity.[11] Willow's powers are
significant enough that she is able to battle Glory more effectively than Buffy,
if not completely successfully.[12]
Tara also becomes a guide of sorts, and a maternal figure. She appears to Buffy
in a dream in the fourth season finale "Restless" to tell her about the arrival
of Buffy's sister Dawn (Michelle Trachtenberg) and act as a translator for the
voiceless First Slayer. Following the death of Joyce Summers and Buffy's
sacrifice to save the world at the end of the fifth season, Tara and Willow move
into the Summers house, taking Joyce's bedroom and becoming Dawn's surrogate
parents.[13]
[edit] Season 6
Tara becomes more outspoken during the sixth season about the ethics of Willow's
use of magic, cautioning Willow that she depends too much on it. The dynamics of
their relationship suddenly turn during "Once More, with Feeling". Willow casts
a spell on Tara to alter her memory in the preceding episode and Tara finds out
about it during "Once More, with Feeling", the musical episode of the series.
Although Tara is presented with a timidity enough to silence her in the fourth
season, Amber Benson was given a prominent song in the episode, singing strongly
and fervently to Willow, again in a duet with Giles, and backup in two other
songs. The musical nature of the show allows characters to express what they
have been feeling secretly, or have refused to admit. Tara's song is an explicit
expression of love which she had not made clear to the audience until this
point.[14] Tara later sings with Giles that she will leave Willow if she does
not change. Self-conscious about her singing abilities, Alyson Hannigan
requested not to be given a song and sings only a few lines in the episode.
Critics saw this as Tara's personality becoming more forceful as Willow begins
to show signs of weakness leading to her addiction.[15][16] Tara challenges her
to go for a week without using magic at all. Willow is unable to resist,
however, and Tara leaves her at the end of "Tabula Rasa". Tara remains a part of
the group, spending time with Dawn, and non-judgmentally acting as Buffy's
confessor when Buffy divulges she has a painful and addictive sexual
relationship with Spike, a vampire whom she loathes.[17]
Despite their separation, Tara remains devoted to Willow's recovery and supports
her in her decision to abstain from using magic. She is, according to author
Lorna Jowett, one of the few characters who is never seduced by evil.[17]
Shuttleworth notes that most Buffy characters go through a rite of
transformation except for Tara.[18] Among female characters she is the most
virtuous. Like the other Buffy characters in the series whose names have
symbolic interpretations, Tara's name resembles the Latin terra, meaning
"earth." She is solidly grounded, with Willow attached to her, and Benson's body
more naturally representative of women.[19] Tara is wholly feminine both in
dress and demeanor, but never seeks male approval. She is clad in earthy,
natural colors, long flowing skirts and clinging blouses, with an intent to
comfort instead of arouse as other women on the show are dressed.[20] Her
admonishments to other characters are always made with love, with their best
interests at heart.[17] Even Tara's last words, commenting that Willow's shirt
is stained (with Tara's own blood), indicate her preoccupation with the welfare
of others.[21]
[edit] Death and response
After tentatively courting each other in "Entropy", Tara returns to Willow, and
they reconcile through the next episode, "Seeing Red". Throughout the season,
Buffy is dogged by three techno-nerds calling themselves The Trio, who envision
themselves supervillains. She continues to foil their plans, and during "Seeing
Red", Warren Mears, one of the Trio, arrives at Buffy's house with a gun. He
shoots several rounds, hitting Buffy, and the last stray shot hits Tara through
the heart, killing her as Willow looks on. Willow is taken over by a dark alter
ego, going on a rampage, abandoning Tara's wishes, soaking up every dark magic
text she can find and for the next three episodes, becomes so powerful that none
of her friends can stop her. She murders Warren and attempts to murder the other
two members of the Trio, but is unsuccessful. To end her pain, she attempts to
end the world and only Xander can make her face her grief.[22]
During the fifth season, Whedon informed Benson that Tara would be killed off.
He saw it as necessary to progress Willow's character; she had to deal with her
dark powers, but nothing short of Tara's death would allow them to come out so
forcefully. Tara had become popular among fans, and Whedon and series writer
David Fury decided that her death would elicit a strong response, something that
Whedon felt sure was the correct course to take.[23] He was unprepared, however,
for how forcefully viewers reacted to Tara's death. Fans were so upset that some
stopped watching.[24] He had previously killed off black characters, and viewers
and critics accused him of being racist, homophobic, and misogynistic. Because
the death came at the end of an episode where Willow and Tara were portrayed in
bed between sexual encounters, critics accused Whedon of intoning that lesbian
sex should be punishable by death. Producers were inundated with mail from
people—women especially—who expressed their anger, sadness, and frustration with
the writing team. Series writer and producer Marti Noxon was unable to read some
of the mail because it was so distressing, but she counted the response as a
natural indication that television simply had few strong female role models, and
no lesbian representation.[25]
Amber Benson defended Whedon in 2007, saying he "is 100 percent behind the LGBT
community. I know this for a fact."[26] Author Rhonda Wilcox writes that Tara's
death is made more poignant by her earthy naturalness representing the
"fragility of the physical".[19] Roz Kaveney comments that Tara's murder is "one
of the most upsetting moments of the show's seven seasons",[24] and Nikki
Stafford states that the episode in which Tara dies is possibly the most
controversial of the series, causing divisions about whether it was necessary,
or assertions that Tara was created only to be killed. In response to fans and
critics who accused the writers of being motivated by homophobia, Stafford
comments, "they seem to forget that it was those same writers who created such
an amazing, gentle, and realistic portrait in the first place; that Tara is
certainly not the first character to be killed off on the show; and Tara was a
lot more than just 'the lesbian', and her character deserves better than
that."[27] Kaveney concurs with the opinion that the series avoided playing a
cliché, "proving that it is possible for a queer character to die in popular
culture without that death being the surrogate vengeance of the straight
world".[24]
The Master (Mark Metcalf)
The Master is one of the oldest living vampires, and the first Big Bad that Buffy faces in Sunnydale. The Master was trapped in a church which collapsed in an earthquake and he became trapped in the Hellmouth when he tried to open it. Prophecy foretells that he will kill Buffy; he bites her and she drowns, but is revived by Xander. She kills him, and he turns to dust, leaving only his bones. When she is faced with the threat of his resurrection, Buffy later smashes them with a sledgehammer. The Master appears again in the season 3 episode "The Wish", which is set in an alternative reality where Buffy never came to Sunnydale.
The Master is a fictional character on the fantasy television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003). He is a centuries-old vampire portrayed by Mark Metcalf, determined to open the portal to hell below Sunnydale High School in the fictional town of Sunnydale where the main character Buffy Summers lives. The premise of the series is that Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) is a Slayer, a teenage girl endowed with superhuman strength and other powers which she uses to kill vampires and other evil beings. Each season of the series Buffy and the small group of family and friends who work with her, nicknamed the Scooby Gang, must defeat an evil force referred to as the Big Bad; the villain is usually trying to bring on an apocalypse. The Master is the first season's Big Bad.
The Master is the head of an ancient order of vampires, a classic Old World villain devoted to ritual and prophecy. He has been entombed beneath Sunnydale for 60 years as the patriarch of a cult posed opposite Buffy, a character who was created to subvert media tropes about frail women falling victim to evil characters. Her youth and insistence on asserting her free will makes her unique in the Master's experience, but he is devoted to fulfilling a prophecy that states he will kill the Slayer and initiate the extermination of all humanity.
In "Welcome to the Hellmouth" the Master is presented as one of the "old ones" a vampire with extraordinary physical and mental powers, but weakened through long isolation and needing to feed on people; he is raised from a pool of blood by his acolyte Luke (Brian Thompson). The head of a cult called the Order of Aurelius, the Master attempted to open the Hellmouth in 1937, placing himself in a church to do so. An earthquake swallowed the church during the Master's attempt, and he has been living in the ruins for 60 years.[8] He is imprisoned by a mystical force, unable to leave his underground lair, so he bids his minions to find people for him to feed from. The Master's incarceration underground was a device used by the writers to avoid having Buffy meet him and then thwart his attempts to kill her each week. Whedon was concerned that audiences would consider this implausible and that weekly confrontations would leave no tension for the season finale when Buffy and the Master would finally meet and battle each other. In "The Harvest", in an ornately dark ceremony the Master makes Luke is his "vessel": every time Luke feeds, power will be transmitted to the Master. Luke goes to The Bronze, the local nightclub frequented by Buffy and her friends and begins to feed on the patrons before Buffy — following a delay caused by getting grounded by her mother — can kill him. Although Luke successfully feeds on a couple of victims, Buffy defeats him, thereby leaving the Master contained underground and robbed of his proxy.
Buffy and the Master finally meet in the season finale "Prophecy Girl", in which Giles translates a prophecy that states that if she fights the Master, she will die. Buffy overhears Giles discussing it with Angel and tells Giles she refuses to be the Slayer if it means she will die, then begs her mother to go away with her for the weekend. After five students are murdered by more of the Master's followers, however, Buffy decides she must fight the Master and is led to his underground lair by The Anointed One; she is wearing a long white dress, bought for a dance she was supposed to attend instead. He quickly hypnotizes her and tells her that "prophecies are tricky things" that don't reveal all: had she not come to fight him, he could not rise, as it is her blood which will free him. He bites and drinks from her, then tosses her to the ground face-down in a shallow pool where she drowns. Angel and Buffy's friend Xander (Nicholas Brendon), who have disobeyed her wishes and followed her, arrive after the Master has risen. Xander is able to revive Buffy through CPR, thus the prophecy of her death at the Master's hands is fulfilled, but its intention thwarted. She becomes stronger as a result of their encounter.
An extension of the Master's religiosity is his preoccupation with prophecies. The themes of the first season are destiny and forming an identity separate from childhood: breaking the illusions that the world is safe and actions have no real consequences. Destiny is repeatedly a theme between Buffy and the Master. The entire first season is underscored with prophecies — a narrative device used less frequently in later seasons of the series — that Buffy neglects to fulfill in various ways. Buffy often has prophetic dreams and the Master is nearly obsessed with recounting and confirming written prophecies. Buffy's superhuman powers are her birthright. Despite her desire to live a normal life she feels compelled to fulfill her destiny as a Slayer, and the need for her to live up to this responsibility is reinforced by Giles. Buffy, however, subverts these elements to assert her own free will, which is illustrated in the season finale. According to Buffy studies scholar Gregory Stevenson, the Master has such confidence in the prophecy that the Slayer will die that he is unable to comprehend her resurrection by Xander.
When the Master rises, the Hellmouth opens in the floor of the school library where Giles, Buffy's friends Willow (Alyson Hannigan), Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter), and a teacher, Jenny Calendar (Robia LaMorte) are present and fighting off the emerging monsters. Buffy finds the Master on the roof of the library watching through windows in the ceiling. Incredulous upon her arrival, he tells her she was destined to die in a written prophecy. She replies "What can I say? I flunked the written." She is now able to resist his attempts to hypnotize her and pushes him through the window into the library below, impaling him on a broken wooden table and killing him.
Drusilla (Juliet Landau)
Drusilla is a beautiful young seer who was driven insane by Angelus, her sire and later her lover. Her insanity continued after she became a vampire, and she wreaked havoc on Europe and Asia for years. After a debilitating beating from an angry mob in Prague, Drusilla is healed in a ritual that nearly sacrifices Angel; when he reverts to Angelus, she embraces his plot to destroy the world. Drusilla is the long-time paramour and sire of Spike, although she becomes disillusioned with him after their year in Sunnydale (Season 2). She has clairvoyance and hypnotic powers in addition to her vampire abilities. She frequently speaks in riddles (relating what the pixies in her head tell her) and watches the stars through the ceiling. She reappears in various guises throughout the series. She is still at large.
Drusilla is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon and David Greenwalt for the American television series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. The character is portrayed by American actress Juliet Landau. She is the main antagonist of season two of Buffy alongside Spike and Angelus, and season two of Angel alongside Darla and Wolfram & Hart. Drusilla is introduced alongside her lover Spike (James Marsters) in the second season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer to serve as new antagonists to the series' heroine, Vampire Slayer Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar). In contrast to the series' previous central villain, the ancient and ceremonious Master (Mark Metcalf), Spike and Dru were introduced as a more unconventional but equally dangerous pair of vampires.
Though Spike and Dru had not been conceived as necessarily having to be either British or American, Landau chose to portray Drusilla with a Cockney accent in keeping with the characters' "Sid and Nancy analogy". Drusilla's physical appearance also drew from additional sources, such as supermodel Kate Moss and the mid-1990s heroin chic aesthetic.
The character's backstory gives her ties to Buffy's boyfriend Angel (David Boreanaz), and it is gradually established over the course of Buffy and Angel. A young psychic in Victorian London with a potential for sainthood, Drusilla was driven insane by Angel before he eventually turned her into a vampire. In Angel, the character recurs both in the present-day narrative and in flashbacks which depict the title character's adventures across Europe and Asia with Drusilla and Spike.
Drusilla's history unfolds in flashbacks scattered among numerous episodes of both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel; they are not presented in chronological order. In "Lie to Me", Angel explains that, in 1860 when he was still Angelus, he became obsessed with Drusilla, a beautiful young Catholic woman who lived with her parents and two sisters in London. Drusilla had psychic abilities, and was capable of occasionally foretelling the future, especially tragic situations. However, she believed this to be an evil affliction and wished to enter a nunnery to cleanse herself. Angelus sensed her purity and became obsessed with destroying her, as Drusilla had the potential for sainthood. Angelus tortured and killed Drusilla's entire family, causing her to flee to a convent in Prague. On the day she was to take her holy vows, Angelus made her watch as he killed every person in the convent and engaged in sexual relations with Darla. The trauma of Angelus's atrocities drove Drusilla insane, and Angelus chose to turn her into a vampire, as he considered her a masterpiece, a testament to his talent.
After being sired, Drusilla, now a predator, joined Angelus and Darla on their
murderous travels. In 1880, Drusilla sired the young poet William, who joined
the group. She and William, later known as "Spike", shared an intimate
relationship, though Angelus continued to engage in sexual relations with Dru as
well.
Shortly after Angelus is cursed with a soul, Spike and Drusilla (unaware of the
ensoulment) go their separate ways from Darla and Angel. At some point before
their arrival in Sunnydale in late 1997, Drusilla is attacked and severely
injured by an angry mob in Prague, leaving her in a weakened and frail
condition. Spike cares for her, and the couple decide to travel to the Hellmouth
in hopes that its energy will help to restore Drusilla's strength and health.
They arrive in Sunnydale in the episode "School Hard", and Spike plots the
downfall of the current Slayer, Buffy Summers. When he discovers that Drusilla
can be cured by the blood of her sire, Spike captures Angel and allows Drusilla
to torture him until it is time to perform the ritual. Although Buffy and her
friends save Angel, the ritual is successful. Drusilla, fully restored, now
takes care of Spike, who has been temporarily paralyzed by Buffy's attack. When
Angel reverts to Angelus, he re-joins the couple. Drusilla soon kills Kendra,
another Slayer, by hypnotizing her and cutting her throat with a fingernail
(which impresses Spike when he learns of it).
Drusilla is delighted by Angelus's determination to destroy the world and
encourages his ongoing sexual attention; both dynamics strongly disturb Spike,
who wants Drusilla to himself again and does not particularly want the world to
end. Spike decides to help Buffy save the world in exchange for his and
Drusilla's safe passage from Sunnydale. Drusilla resists Spike's betrayal of
Angelus, and he attacks her, ultimately carrying her unconscious body from the
fray.
Drusilla and Spike flee to South America, where Drusilla becomes disillusioned
with their relationship. Spike's alliance with the Slayer, combined with Dru's
skills of foresight and perception, prove to her that Spike is now tainted (not
"demon enough" for her) and that he is developing feelings for Buffy. Drusilla
breaks up with Spike, and he rejects her offer to remain friends.
Drusilla reappears on Angel in 2001, when Wolfram & Hart brings her to Los
Angeles to re-sire Darla, who had been resurrected as a human but is dying of
syphilis. Drusilla, who loves Darla like a parent, genuinely believes she is
doing Darla a favor by siring her and is puzzled by Darla's brief rage before
her renewed vampire nature kicks in. Reconciled, the two wreak havoc in the city
until Angel sets them on fire. The two go underground to heal, but Drusilla
leaves Darla, who is then protected by Lindsey McDonald.
Drusilla returns to Sunnydale in the episode "Crush" to persuade Spike to join
Darla and herself in reforming their "family" unit, but instead, Spike seizes
the opportunity to try to prove his love for Buffy by offering to stake
Drusilla. Heartbroken by the actions of her former lover, Drusilla departs
Sunnydale and remains at large. However, in Season Seven of Buffy, the First
Evil impersonates Drusilla in an unsuccessful attempt to break Spike's spirit.
Spike claims that the First Evil's impersonation is not crazy enough to be
Drusilla.
In recent Angel comics by IDW Publishing, Drusilla has reappeared, breaking out
of a psychiatric institution. Still mentally ill, her whereabouts since her last
appearance in Angel remain unexplained. After assault by a crowd, she awakens,
still pallid-skinned, in what appears to be Georgian London, in broad daylight
and enters what seems to be her parent's home. She encounters a doll (which may
or may not be "Miss Edith") and is called by a third party, possibly her
parents. It is uncertain whether this is an elaborate hallucination, time travel
to her personal past or an alternate universe where she was never turned by
Angelus. It is strongly implied, however, that the story actually takes place
before Drusilla is sired, and the parts of it set in the modern day are actually
a premonition in the human, 19th-century Drusilla's mind.
[edit] Powers and abilities
Drusilla has all the standard powers and vulnerabilities of a vampire, plus
minor psychic abilities. She is immortal, regenerates damage, drains human blood
to survive, and is stronger than most humans. Drusilla's technique in combat,
although awkward-looking, has allowed her to briefly hold her own in a fight
against Angel (in "Reunion") and Spike (in "Becoming, Part Two"), along with
besting Kendra the Vampire Slayer (in "Becoming, Part One") before using the
hypnosis technique and then killing her. It was also in this fight with Kendra
that Drusilla showed that her fingernails are sharper than one would normally
expect, as she uses them to slit Kendra's throat. Darla had demonstrated a
similar technique when she sired Angel; whether this is due to vampiric
abilities or physical manipulation of nails is unclear.
Drusilla is also a seer with minor psychic abilities. However, since she had
these before becoming a vampire their source and cause are unknown. She receives
vivid visions that contain possible glimpses of the future, and can also see
into people's minds and project false imagery into them (e.g. in "Becoming, Part
Two", when she convinces Giles that she is really Jenny Calendar). She is also
capable of hypnotizing people, which she does by catching their gazes, pointing
her fingers towards her victim's eyes and then to her own, whispering to them
("Be in my eyes, Be in me"). Drusilla uses this technique to murder Kendra in
the episode "Becoming, Part One". The Master uses a similar skill to paralyze
Buffy in "Prophecy Girl".
[edit] Personality and appearance
Actress Juliet Landau said that when she first received the script, it indicated
that Drusilla's accent could be British or American. Landau felt Drusilla
"should really be Cockney, especially with the whole Sid and Nancy analogy."
Though she never considered portraying Drusilla with a Southern American accent,
as James Marsters had considered for Spike, she notes that invited comparisons
with Blanche DuBois would also have been interesting.[2]
Drusilla's madness is exhibited in her often-strange dialogue, which is peppered
with non sequiturs like "Spike, do you love my insides? All the parts you can't
see?" Her behavior is girlish, accompanied by a dark, ironic twist. For
instance, when she is happy, she will squeal and laugh like a young child, but
she is happiest when committing torture, hunting humans, or witnessing mass
destruction. She has a fondness for china dolls but keeps them blindfolded or
gagged. She also loves flowers and cute animals, but is not sane enough to care
for them; as she says, "Do you like daisies? I plant them but they always die.
Everything I put in the ground withers and dies." She even goes so far as to own
a Pekingese puppy. She speaks in a soft, mellow voice which contrasts with her
dialogue.
Mayor Richard Wilkins III (Harry Groener)
The affable yet sinister Mayor Wilkins originally founded the city of Sunnydale on the Hellmouth as a haven for demons to feed. He sold his soul in the 19th century so that he could eventually ascend to pure demon form. Buffy and the Scoobies face the threat of his impending Ascension in Season 3.
The Mayor
Buffy the Vampire Slayer character
First appearance
"Homecoming"
Created by
Joss Whedon, David Greenwalt
Portrayed by
Harry Groener
Information
Classification
Mayor of Sunnydale
Notable powers
Sorcery, immortality.
Superhuman attributes in demon form.
Richard Wilkins III (commonly referred to as The Mayor) is a fictional character
in the fantasy television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003). Portrayed
by Harry Groener, he is the mayor of Sunnydale, a fictional town rife with
vampires and demons in which the main character, Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle
Gellar) lives. The premise of the series is that Buffy is a Slayer, a young girl
endowed with superhuman powers to fight evil, which she accomplishes with the
help of a small group of friends and family, called the Scooby Gang. During the
second season it becomes apparent that local authorities are aware of the
endemic evil in the town, and either ignore it or are complicit in making it
worse. The series regularly employs monsters and elements of horror to symbolize
real problems,[1] and the abuse of power in relation to the forces of darkness
is a repeated theme throughout the series, as well as in its spinoff Angel.[2]
The third season reveals that the Mayor is involved in many of the evil
occurrences and he becomes the primary villain, or Big Bad. His genial demeanor,
promotion of family values, casual phobia of germs, and dislike of swearing
belie his evil nature.
This season also marks Buffy's and her friends' last year in high school, and
introduces a long-running character named Faith (Eliza Dushku), who is also a
Slayer. Faith's disrupted and painful family life has left her without a stable
moral center, and unlike Buffy, she is particularly vulnerable to the dark
impulses associated with being a Slayer. After many months of fighting alongside
Buffy and being under the authority of Buffy's Watcher, Giles, Faith becomes
estranged from Buffy and aligns herself with the Mayor, who both employs her as
an assassin and becomes a father figure to her while preparing to become a
powerful demon that will destroy the town.
Contents
[hide] 1 Creation and casting
2 Establishment
3 Conflict with Buffy and relationship with Faith
4 Demise
5 Influence
6 Citations
7 Bibliography
[edit] Creation and casting
In planning for the third season, series creator Joss Whedon and the team of
writers for the show sought to explore the issues of the abuse of power, and the
choices people in or with power make.[3] Veteran stage actor Harry Groener was
cast in the role of the Mayor of Sunnydale, the embodiment of a quintessential
American politician. In the second season, it becomes clear that the authorities
at Sunnydale High School — under which a portal to hell called a Hellmouth is
situated — are aware of the perpetual influence of evil at the school and have
been reporting events to the Mayor's office.[4] While there are scenes in season
two which indicate that the Mayor is a fear-inspiring figure, he is not seen
until the third season.
Series writer Jane Espenson credited Groener's performance and his chemistry
with co-star Eliza Dushku with propelling his character to greater importance
and making their relationship a central focus of the season.[5] The writers
created the blue collar Slayer Faith (Eliza Dushku) as an anti-Buffy: a young
woman given extraordinary physical powers with no moral foundation. Whereas
Buffy has had a stable family life up until her parents' divorce two years
earlier, Faith does not know her father, and it is revealed that her mother was
an alcoholic before her death. She has been surviving on her own since her
original Watcher, someone who teaches her about the demons and monsters she will
face, was tortured and killed shortly before Faith's arrival in Sunnydale.[6]
Groener loved the part and was impressed with the writing. As a stage actor used
to having rehearsal time to prepare for a role, he found himself often with
little time for rehearsal in the environment of television production; actors
sometimes get their lines the night before and must memorize them, then spend
time on set learning how to block shots for cameras. Consequently, Groener said
he did not have much time to rehearse and prepare for the role of the Mayor. He
was surprised to see how involved Joss Whedon was in preparing scripts:
sometimes Whedon would rewrite lines on set. Groener said, "Poor Joss. Here is a
man who I think never sleeps. He never, ever sleeps and of course he was writing
and directing the last two episodes, and there were times when we would simply
get a synopsis the night before...and while they're setting everything up and
getting everything ready to shoot the next scene, Joss is over in a corner
writing the scene that's going to happen after that. It can be kind of nuts! But
it all gets done. That's the magic of it."[7]
[edit] Establishment
The Mayor is first alluded to in the second season's 19th episode I Only Have
Eyes For You in a conversation between Principal Snyder and the police, however
he is not seen. The Mayor's backstory is revealed throughout the season. Richard
Wilkins III is also Richard Wilkins I and II; he has been in office for a
century, maintaining his long life and political power by paying tribute to an
array of demons who live in or under Sunnydale. He has been aware of Buffy's
presence in the town and has kept tabs on her through Sunnydale High School's
Principal Snyder (Armin Shimerman). Except for a small group of his aides, Buffy
and the rest of the town are unaware of the Mayor's dark nature.[8]
The script for the fifth episode "Homecoming", where audiences are introduced to
the Mayor, describes him as a man who "couldn't be more unassuming ... one feels
that this man has not raised his voice in years, and although he is mild enough
in demeanor, one hopes he won't".[8] In the previous episode, Faith arrives in
Sunnydale, as does a vampire named Mr. Trick (K. Todd Freeman), who tries to
kill both Faith and Buffy. When this is unsuccessful, he attempts to kill both
Slayers again—for fun—in "Homecoming", charging a fee to those who have come to
hunt the two. Impressed with his initiative, the Mayor invites Mr. Trick to work
for him.[9][10] Mr. Trick's first assignment is to distract the entire town so
five infants can be taken from the hospital to serve as sacrifice to a demon in
"Band Candy". Buffy and the Scooby Gang thwart the Mayor's plans; their
successful interference signals to the Mayor that Buffy's efficiency as a
fighter of evil will have long-range consequences for him. He tells Mr. Trick to
keep an eye on her.
The Mayor carries out his evil schemes while exhibiting a paradoxical "fifties
sitcom-dad demeanor". He dislikes swearing and disallows its use in his
presence. He asserts that he is a family man; a specifically conservative
politician who espouses family values. Inside his office cabinet he keeps a
variety of skulls, shrunken heads, weapons, and other evil objects alongside a
box of hand wipes, which he uses frequently in between dispensing "goofily
prudish advice" tainted with dark threats.[11] The phobia of germs peculiarity
was based on Buffy producer David Greenwalt, who exhibited similar positive
enthusiasm while often wiping his hands with wet towelettes.[12] Groener's
acting was praised by author Nikki Stafford, who writes that he "is consistently
wonderful in this role, one that would have been very difficult for many actors
to maintain".[10] Likewise, Jane Espenson remarked that Groener played the part
exhibiting a "wonderful innocent glee" towards evil that she thought was
"delightful".[5] Groener stated that when he tried to play the Mayor too dark or
evil, Joss Whedon or other directors would ask him to tone it down, take it easy
and make the part "real nice". In contrast to the series' previous villains and
monsters, the Mayor's evil hides behind a mask of humanity. Groener enjoyed
this, saying "You don't have to be Snidely Whiplash to be evil. Look at Ted
Bundy."[7] The Mayor's unassuming appearance, pleasure in such harmless
activities as miniature golf and reading The Family Circus, and his quirky
mysophobia are a part of the season's exploration of moral ambiguity.[13]
[edit] Conflict with Buffy and relationship with Faith
During the episodes which reveal the Mayor's true nature, Faith's darker nature
also begins to appear. She shows herself to be purely motivated by pleasure,
even enjoying to excess her fighting as a Slayer, but unreliable regarding the
duties associated with that role. Her character tests ethics more than any other
on the series, highlighting the repeated theme of the role of free will in the
struggle between good and evil. Her reaction to killing demons and vampires is
"positively joyful" contrasting with Buffy's frequent admissions that she
considers her responsibilities an imposition on her life—although she is
committed to her duty. In the early part of the season, Faith's actions aid the
cause of good, but her motivations are ambiguous. She never reveals, other than
the pleasure she receives, why she fights evil.[14]
Faith, Buffy, and the Mayor come into conflict during "Bad Girls", an episode in
which Buffy allows herself to break rules and ignore responsibility. Needing to
distract the Slayers so that he can be assured of the privacy required to
complete an important ritual, the Mayor ensures they learn of a cult of vampires
loyal to a demon named Balthazar, knowing they will be fully engaged in
defeating him, giving the Mayor time to enact a ritual required as part of his
preparation to become a demon (referred to as his Ascension). Its outcome is his
invulnerability for the next 100 days, illustrated when he allows one of
Balthazar's minions to slice his head in two so it can mend itself.[15]
In their efforts to track and defeat Balthazar and his cohorts, Buffy and Faith
flirt with lawlessness, breaking into a store and stealing weapons, then
escaping police custody to complete their mission. The Deputy Mayor, who has
begun to show a reluctance to participate in the Mayor's plans and is keeping
track of the Slayers, follows them to warn them of Mr. Trick and the Mayor's
intention to have them killed. In the heat of fighting, Faith accidentally
stakes and kills the Deputy Mayor, believing him to be a vampire. While Buffy
feels terrible guilt for being a part of the Deputy Mayor's death, Faith claims
not to, and resents Buffy for continuing to speak of it in "Consequences". Faith
tells Buffy's Watcher Giles (Anthony Head) that it was Buffy who killed the
Deputy Mayor; he does not believe her and she is taken into custody to be dealt
with by the Watchers' Council. She escapes and tries to leave town, only to be
stopped by Buffy. Mr. Trick appears on the scene to try to kill them both, and
Faith saves Buffy by killing Mr. Trick. She then goes to the Mayor's office and
offers him her services,[16] but continues to pretend to be fighting on Buffy's
side. Eventually her alliance with the Mayor is exposed and she is revealed as
Buffy's enemy.
The Mayor puts Faith up in a large, fully furnished apartment, buys her clothes,
a video game system, and an expensive knife. He nurtures her, giving her a sense
of belonging after her rift with the Scoobies, asking only in return she kill
people when required. Faith has no problem with this arrangement and enjoys the
lifestyle.[14] Buffy writer Marti Noxon states that villains who seek out love
and social connections to counter their loneliness are complex and interesting
to write. The Mayor shows absolute confidence in Faith's abilities and she in
turn is validated by him. Among the characters who know them both, the Mayor is
the only one who never compares Faith to Buffy. When Faith calls him her "sugar
daddy", he gently scolds her, reminding her that he is a "family man". According
to author Lorna Jowett, his rejection of any sexual element in their
relationship makes their bond stronger. Faith's experience with sex has left her
apathetic about her partners, but when the Mayor demands loyalty, she is able to
give it.[13] His affection for Faith is genuine; like Faith, he has no living
family, his wife having died of old age. The Mayor, according to Harry Groener,
is a lonely father figure who "loves unconditionally". In series writer Doug
Petrie's opinion, the Mayor is well-matched to Faith, who Petrie sees as "the
loneliest person in Sunnydale" who "desperately needs a father". Eliza Dushku
states that one of Faith's major life battles is constructing a viable
self-esteem, which the Mayor never challenges, but his evil amplifies the
"crazy" aspect of her nature.[5] Whedon declared Faith the writing team's first
"really human monster". The Mayor intends Faith to inherit his evil empire, and
shows unabashed pride in her achievements. Their tenderness with each other,
according to Whedon, is a "beautiful counterpoint" to the violence and evil they
wreak on the town.[12]
[edit] Demise
The Mayor plans his Ascension to demon form to coincide with Sunnydale High
School's graduation day. In "Choices", the Mayor must complete another ritual
involving a box full of grotesquely large insects which will, after he ingests
them, imbue him with greater power. Faith retrieves the box for him, which Buffy
then steals in order to prevent this important ritual from occurring. In the
process, Buffy's best friend Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan) is captured by
Faith, and the Mayor meets Buffy for the first time when they exchange Willow
for the box. During the confrontation, the Mayor pointedly asks questions about
the viability of Buffy's relationship with Angel (David Boreanaz), a vampire who
has been re-ensouled and who fights alongside Buffy. Although Buffy and Angel
have been trying to avoid acknowledging the difficulties involved with
continuing a relationship that can make neither of them happy, the Mayor's
fatherly questions about their future and his comparison to his own experience
of watching his wife Edna Mae die at an old age while he remained youthful,
becomes a factor which forces them to admit that the relationship should
end.[8][17]
Buffy and Angel mutually but sadly concede they cannot be happy together in the
next episode but they continue to work toward the goal of defeating the Mayor's
plan. The two-part season finale "Graduation Day" reveals that the Mayor will be
the keynote speaker at Sunnydale High's commencement ceremony, where he will be
able to feed on the students after his transformation. On orders from the Mayor,
Faith murders a geologist who has uncovered evidence of a previously ascended
demon, then shoots Angel with a poisoned arrow to distract Buffy and the
Scoobies, who have to care for, and try to save, Angel. When they learn that the
only antidote to the poison is the blood of a Slayer, Buffy tries to capture
Faith in order to use her blood to cure Angel. During the fight to do so, Buffy
stabs Faith with the knife given to her by the Mayor; Faith escapes, but her
injuries put her into the hospital, comatose. Buffy then offers her own blood to
Angel, who feeds on her, then takes her to the hospital after he recovers.
There, the Mayor is poignantly grieving for Faith. He discovers Buffy in the
next room and tries to smother her, but is stopped by Angel.[18][19]
In a redemptive turn, Faith comes to Buffy in a dream to tell her how to defeat
the Mayor, saying "Want to know the deal? Human weakness. It never goes away.
Even his." The knife the Mayor gave to Faith then flashes in the palm of Buffy's
hand.[20] A fully recovered Buffy and the Scoobies enlist the graduating
students of Sunnydale High, outfitting them with weapons to attack immediately
after the Mayor's transformation, after learning his invulnerability will end
once he is in demon form. The Mayor gives a speech about changes, growing up and
moving on, mirroring the loose ends created by the series and the season.[21] A
solar eclipse occurs during his speech, signaling the start of the Ascension. He
transforms into an enormous snake, and devours the universally loathed Principal
Snyder when the latter admonished him for disrupting the event. While Angel and
the Scoobies fight the Mayor's force of vampires, Buffy taunts the
now-transformed Mayor with Faith's knife and runs into the school. The Mayor
follows her to the library, which is rigged with explosives, killing him and
destroying the school with a series of explosions.[18][19]
[edit] Influence
Author Lorna Jowett considers the Mayor a classic villain, similar to the first
season's vampire Master. Although the Mayor's appearance is not as frightening
as the Master's, both are heads of hierarchies and symbols of patriarchy whose
names are their titles.[13] Buffy Studies scholar Rhonda Wilcox calls the Mayor
— particularly after his transformation — "Mr. Patriarchal Phallus of 1999".[22]
Faith's relationship to the Mayor in many ways mirrors Buffy's relationship to
her Watcher, Giles, who is Buffy's father figure.[23] Doug Petrie characterizes
Faith as "Buffy's evil twin", who gets to do what Buffy would like to do, but
cannot because Buffy is moral and not as "free-spirited" as Faith, according to
Whedon.[3] Through the Mayor's effort to nurture his relationship with Faith she
becomes his subordinate, despite her assertions to Buffy that she is
independent. Her motivation to kill the geologist is never more complicated
than, "The boss wants you dead", which she tells him just before stabbing him to
death. Unlike Giles' mentoring of Buffy, in which he encourages her to make her
own decisions despite what she is ordered to do by the similarly patriarchal
Watcher's Council, Faith complies with everything the Mayor wants, creating
"unquestioning service of the power structure for the sake of approval, comfort,
and support of the father". In contrast, Buffy soon stops taking orders from the
Watchers' Council.[24] Jowett writes, "The Mayor is ultimately a 'bad' father
because he holds the status quo: like the Master before him, he is a powerful
patriarch who wants to maintain his position at the top, and the children of
such parents will never be able to grow up."[13]
Faith does not die from her injuries, but returns in the fourth season in "This
Year's Girl". While still in her coma, she dreams of a pleasant picnic with the
Mayor, who picks up a small snake that has slithered onto the blanket and tells
it that it does not belong there. The dream-picnic is interrupted by Buffy who
stabs him to death. Faith awakens in the hospital to discover that the Mayor has
in fact died and left her a video and a device that will allow her to switch
bodies with Buffy.[25][26][27] After Buffy recovers her own body, Faith goes to
Angel in Los Angeles, turns herself in to the police and goes to prison, later
emerging to begin her redemption on Angel. She returns to Sunnydale in season
seven, not only to help Buffy and the Scoobies, but to perform in a position of
leadership. In season seven the Mayor also returns as one of the faces of the
First Evil in "Lessons" and "Touched".
Professor Maggie Walsh (Lindsay Crouse)
Walsh is Buffy's psychology professor and the leader of The Initiative. She deceives Riley and tries to kill Buffy when Buffy asks too many questions about her secret project. She is stabbed and killed by her own creation, Adam, and her body is later re-animated.
Maggie Walsh
Buffy the Vampire Slayer character
First appearance
"The Freshman"
Last appearance
"Primeval"
Created by
Joss Whedon
Portrayed by
Lindsay Crouse
Information
Affiliation
The Initiative, 314 Project
Notable powers
Knowledge of psychology, behavior modification, anatomy, biology, and
cybernetics
Professor Maggie Walsh is a fictional character in the television series Buffy
the Vampire Slayer. The character is portrayed by Lindsay Crouse.
Contents
[hide] 1 History
2 Writing and acting
3 Notes and references
4 See also
[edit] History
Professor Maggie Walsh is introduced in Season Four, as Buffy's Psychology
professor University at California Sunnydale, but is later revealed as the
leader of the government-controlled Initiative, a military project intent on
capturing, studying, and modifying the behavior of various demons. Unknown to
many in the Initiative, Walsh is also involved in Project 314, a secret program
within the Initiative that is creating a hybrid demon-humanoid-mechanoid
(demonoid) known as Adam. Various creatures captured by the Initiative were
dissected to provide the parts for Adam.
Maggie maintains a close relationship with Riley, who is her favorite soldier;
she appears to think of him as a son. After Riley learns that Buffy is the
Slayer, they inform Walsh of her role. Walsh initially thinks that Buffy can be
a useful ally to the Initiative, but soon takes a dislike to her
unpredictability and unwelcome curiosity, especially with regards to the "314
Project". Cameras installed in Riley's room allow her to spy on Buffy and Riley
while they have sex, and later to hear Buffy ask Riley about the 314 Project.
Perceiving that Buffy poses a risk to the project, Walsh tries to kill Buffy by
sending her on a mission on which she is ambushed by two demons released from
the Initiative's holding cells. Buffy defeats the demons and appears on the
monitors after Walsh has prematurely announced Buffy's death to Riley, who walks
out. Walsh retreats to the labs of Project 314, where she plots how to use Adam
to defeat Buffy. However, Adam awakens and impales Walsh, killing her, and
escapes from the Initiative.
Walsh appears in the penultimate episode of Season Four, "Primeval," as a
zombie, working under Adam along with others Adam has killed. Attempting to
finish off Project 314, begun by Walsh, Adam has his workers manufacturing more
creatures like himself; part demon, human, and machine combined. Adam activates
the chip Walsh had inserted into Riley's heart, making him biddable to Adam's
command. Zombie Walsh attacks Buffy when she comes to Riley's rescue, but Buffy
knocks her down and defeats her, and with some help from the Scooby-Gang of
Willow, Xander, and Giles, she defeats Adam as well. The Initiative project is
Glory (Clare Kramer)
Glory, also known as "the great and wonderful Glorificus", is an evil hellgod who has been exiled from her dimension by other hellgods. She is forced to occupy the body of a human named Ben, which reduces her powers. She regularly becomes disoriented and unstable and must drain the minds of humans in order to maintain her cognitive processes, leaving her human victims insane. She seeks the Key to return to her home dimension, not caring that her actions threaten to destroy the fabric of reality separating all dimensions.
Glory
Buffy the Vampire Slayer character
First appearance
"No Place Like Home"
Created by
Joss Whedon, Douglas Petrie
Portrayed by
Clare Kramer
Information
Classification
Goddess
Notable powers
Superhuman strength, speed, and near-invulnerability, Immortality.
Glory is a fictional character in the television series Buffy the Vampire
Slayer. Also known as "Glorificus," "That Which Cannot Be Named," "The
Abomination," and "The Beast," she was the Big Bad of the fifth season of the
program and was portrayed by Clare Kramer.
Glorificus (also known as "Glory") is a god from a hell dimension in which she
ruled alongside two other deities. Glory's power, army and dominion were vast
and continued to grow stronger and stronger, as did her lust for misery and
destruction, and Glory quickly became the most powerful of the three hell gods.
Afraid and fearful that Glory would grow too powerful and seize the dimension
for herself, the other two allied together and went to war against Glorificus.
The hell gods barely defeated Glory, but despite their victory, Glory was too
powerful to destroy, so they banished her into the earthly dimension, where her
essence would be imprisoned in a human child named Ben, created solely to
"contain" her until he eventually died as a mortal, sealing her.
Glory was too powerful to be completely contained within the human vessel and
when Ben reached his 20s, Glory began to gain control over Ben for short periods
of time, taking the form of a vain, self-centered human female possessing
superhuman strength, speed and invulnerability. Glory's strength was greater
than that of any Slayer, vampire or demon on Earth, although her powers were
greatly diminished compared to those she had in her true form. Dark magicks
prevent humans from learning that Glory and Ben are one and the same; even when
she transforms right in front of someone, they instantly forget what they saw.
However, the spell does not affect supernatural entities like vampires and
demons. This becomes a recurring joke in the penultimate episode of Season Five,
where Spike finds himself repeatedly having to explain to the Scooby Gang that
Ben and Glory are the same person, only for them either to misunderstand him or
to instantly forget. However, as Ben and Glory's personalities begin to merge
more and more (see below), the magical ruse weakens until, in the finale, the
whole gang is able to see through it. This human form is Glory's only weakness;
if the human vessel containing her is killed, then Glory perishes with him.
Glory's only goal is to find "The Key", a "mystical energy nexus" which is the
only way for her to return to her original dimension. Unfortunately, using The
Key will break down the barriers between all dimensions, causing all worlds to
bleed into each other and allowing "Hell to reign on Earth". The Key was safe,
guarded by an ancient group of monks known as The Order of Dagon. When they
discovered The Beast (Glory) was searching for The Key they chose to hide it.
Using ancient magic they transformed The Key into a human girl and placed her
under the protection of the Slayer Buffy, altering the memories of the Slayer
and anyone connected to her into believing the girl was Buffy's younger sister
Dawn. The Order of Dagon were eventually destroyed by Glory. The last monk of
the order was taken prisoner and interogated by Glory, and later rescued by
Buffy. Before the monk died from his wounds he revealed to Glory (under torture)
that The Key had been transformed, but not what The Key had become. The monk,
after being rescued by Buffy, revealed to Buffy that Dawn was the key, something
she already suspected.
Glory was also opposed by a military order known as the "Knights of Byzantium",
composed of knights and clerics. They swore to prevent Glory from using The Key,
and they attempted to kill Dawn (The Key) before Glory could find her. In the
episode "Spiral", a large group of knights besiege Buffy and Dawn, but Glory
arrives and slaughters nearly all of them, taking The Key with her.
[edit] The Key
The Key is an ancient power, an ancient green mystical energy that according to
Glory "is almost as old as she is". The Key needs to draw on powers from the
dimension it's in before being used, which is why it can only be used at a
certain time and certain place. Who or what created The Key or how is unknown,
even its true purpose is never fully revealed. The Key seems to work by
destroying the barriers that separate one dimension from another. The longer The
Key is in use, the more the walls of reality begin to break down. When The Key
is activated, a small portal opens and begins to grow, in which demons,
creatures and entire dimensions begin immediately bleeding through.
Buffy's first confrontation with Glory came shortly after discovering there was
something not right about Dawn. Buffy tried to go up against Glory and failed
miserably. Glory beat Buffy severely, destroying an entire building in the
process. The only thing Buffy did manage to do was escape during a temper
tantrum by Glory which caused the building to collapse, escaping with the last
surviving monk who quickly revealed to her the truth about Dawn being The Key
and Buffy as her protector.
[edit] Sunnydale
Although Glory enters early on in Season 5, the Scooby gang knows very little
about her, only discovering her name from one of Glory's minions. Glory's
god-like status, her extreme power level, her origins, the Key's true nature and
history are not known until later episodes, Glory comes to Sunnydale looking for
"The Key", which will allow her to return to her own dimension. The Key would
cause damage to all dimensions, including the dimension Buffy and her friends
inhabit, though Glory seems to be unaware or unconcerned of this fact. Glory is
not aware of what form The Key has taken, though she knows that Buffy, the
Slayer, protects it. For her part, Buffy is not initially aware of The Key's
nature either. It is eventually revealed that Buffy's "new sister", Dawn, is The
Key, in human form.
She begins the quest to locate The Key, aided by a race of pale, black-eyed
demons who are loyal to her almost to a fault, though she does not care for them
and viciously abuses them, both verbally and physically, for even the slightest
failures. Glory quickly establishes herself as one of Buffy's most dangerous and
determined enemies. At one point, she confronts Buffy in her own home, openly
threatening to kill Buffy's friends and family and force Buffy herself to watch
her do so.
Due to Glory being a god in a human body, the human mind can not control such
power and this gradually turns Glory insane. In order to maintain her sanity and
power, Glory feeds off the mental energies of humans by a process that Buffy and
her friends refer to as "brain-sucking". She inserts her fingers into the
victim's head, absorbing the energies that bind the victim's mind. The humans
that she "devours" in this way become incoherent and mentally unstable; those
affected are also able to see Dawn in her true form. Glory's arrival in
Sunnydale is followed by an inexplicable increase in the number of mental
patients. One of her unfortunate victims is Willow's girlfriend, Tara, who later
inadvertently betrays Dawn to Glory. The Scoobies try to run, but Glory still
manages to kidnap Dawn shortly afterward.
The Key can only be used at a certain time, and as that time draws near, the
power that separates Glory from Ben dissolves. They still inhabit Ben's body
separately, but their memories and personalities begin to blur together.
After recovering from a mental breakdown caused by Glory's kidnapping of Dawn,
Buffy decides to attack Glory with everything she has: Willow's magic spell to
restore Tara's sanity stolen by Glory, at the same time weakening Glory's mind;
the Dagon Sphere (a weapon created by the monks that causes physical pain to
Glory); Buffy's robot double (the "Buffybot") originally Spike's sex toy; Olaf,
The Troll God's Hammer (with which Buffy is able beat Glory in battle and
severely weaken her albeit temporarily, due to the hammer being a weapon of the
gods); and eventually a wrecking ball, commandeered by Xander. Meanwhile, Spike,
Giles, and Anya attack her minions. However, the final spell that opens the rift
between dimensions had already started by one of Glory's disciples - Doc - by
cutting Dawn with a knife and making her bleed (the act of which opens a portal
to the other dimensions). Ultimately, after killing Doc, Buffy realises that
because the monks created Dawn from her essence, they share the same blood which
means not only Dawn's blood but her own can close the portal, but it would also
require her to die (her blood must stop flowing for the gateway to close). After
saying goodbye to her sister, Buffy jumps into the portal that is opening,
instantly dying and closing the gateway.
Glory is left defeated and significantly weakened, losing her hold on this
reality and returning to the form and mind of Ben. Giles knows that Glory will
eventually regain her power and return to get her revenge on Buffy unless Ben is
killed, so he smothers Ben to death with his bare hands. As Ben dies, so does
Glory.
Glory is also referred to as "Glorificus" by her minions and in most textual
references, and occasionally as "The Beast" by the monks who created Dawn
(although she has nothing to do with The Beast who appeared in Angel, the
spin-off series of Buffy the Vampire Slayer).
After Glory's defeat, her final appearance in the series is at the end of the
episode "Lessons", as an avatar of the First Evil along with most of the other
major villains from the series.
[edit] Name
"That Which Cannot Be Named" came into existence before written word, and
therefore (as its title implies) has no name. When the hell-god came to this
dimension, she was dubbed "Glorificus" or sometimes "Glorifius," names which she
shortened to "Glory." She was also known as "the Glorious One" (among many other
amusing, groveling titles such as "Her Splendiferousness," "Her Sparkling
Luminescence" and "Oh Sweaty-Naughty-Feelings-Causing One") by her demon
minions, and as "the Beast" or "the Abomination" by the human priesthood and the
Knights of Byzantium. The Scoobies and Ben often refer to her by the insulting
name of "Hell-Bitch."
[edit] Powers and abilities
In Season 5, Episode 13, "Blood Ties," the gang begins discussing the Watcher
Council's research on Glory. Buffy asks since Glory is a god, shouldn't she be
able to throw lightning bolts? Giles responds, "Normally, yes, but since she is
in human form, her powers are severely limited." During season five the
following were demonstrated:
Near-invulnerability: Only a Troll God's hammer was able to do any lasting
damage to Glory when used repeatedly. In "Tough Love," Willow's lightning
bolts caused her pain, but caused no visible damage as the hammer did, though
she comments that Willow's assault "slowed her down"; by the time of the
season finale, Buffy mentions that Willow was the only one of the Scoobies who
was ever successful in actually hurting Glory up to that point. When a
building collapses on top of her (see below), she was slowed down, but was
unharmed. Similarly, she was unharmed after being hit by a truck. Presumably,
she was either unharmed or left with minor injuries after Willow's
teleportation spell during the hospital attack, during which she easily
outmatched the entire Scooby Gang.
Superhuman strength: Glory possesses enormous physical strength far beyond
that of most, if not all, vampires, demons, or Slayers; in fact, she is
considered to be the most physically powerful Big Bad in the series, shown to
be able to inflict massive damage on her opponents through pure brute force
and physical strength alone. At one point, a building collapses on her after
she repeatedly stomps her foot in a temper tantrum over a broken shoe. In
"Intervention", she kicked Spike clear across her living room, through a solid
wooden door, and to the other end of the room behind said door after losing
her patience with him. In "Spiral", she punches a hole through the barrier
that Willow had previously generated.
Superhuman speed: Glory's super-speed is depicted as a fast-moving blur that
is apparently invisible to the naked eye. This is seen when she pursues Buffy
and Dawn immediately after Tara, in her insane state, accidentally reveals
that Dawn is The Key.
Brain Sucking: The ability to drain the mental energy of humans. This was
primarily to maintain her own mental strength, but would also prevent Ben's
form from resuming control. Not only does the drain draw out all energy
leaving the victims in an insane state, they are also able to visually see The
Key's true energy and ultimately become psychically linked to Glory and The
Key.
Shroud of Illusion: A mystical shroud cast to prevent people from learning
that she and Ben were the same person, the origins of which are unclear. It
only works on humans; vampires, demons, and other non-humans are immune. She
loses this capability in the penultimate episode of Season Five.
Creature Identification: The ability to differentiate between vampires and
humans and also from any other creature from the Key, as seen in
"Intervention", when her minions capture Spike under the mistaken impression
that he is The Key. And also when they assume Tara is the Key and Glory
quickly identifies she isn't.
Omnilingualism: Able to speak and understand any human or demon language.
This is known when humans and demons would talk to her in other languages and
she would easily be able to interpret and understand.
Magic In "Shadow", Glory cast an ancient spell that caused an ordinary snake
to grow to a massive size and granted it the ability to see the true form of
The Key, in addition to making it completely loyal to her. According to Giles,
a spell such as that would need enormous levels of magic to perform, and Glory
cast it rather easily.
The extent of Glory's true powers as a hell-god were never revealed or used,
though according to Gregor in "Spiral", they were beyond what even her
compatriot hell-gods could conceive. She later secures Ben's aid in recapturing
Dawn by promising him immortality.
[edit] Personality
Clare Kramer, in an interview with the BBC, says Glory's strength was her lack
of self-doubt: "She was completely secure in herself, focused on what she wanted
and dedicated to her cause." However, her strength was also her downfall; Kramer
notes that Glory was unable "to look at more than just herself."[1]
[edit] Servants
Dreg
Jinx
Murk
Slook
Gronx
The High Priest Minion
Doc
Caleb (Nathan Fillion)
An arrogant, misogynistic preacher who served as a vessel and evil-doer for the First Evil. He is emasculated and sliced in two by Buffy in the series' finale "Chosen".
Caleb
Buffy the Vampire Slayer character
First appearance
"Dirty Girls"
Created by
Joss Whedon, Drew Goddard
Portrayed by
Nathan Fillion
Information
Affiliation
The First Evil
Notable powers
Superhuman strength, stamina, and durability superior to that of vampires and
vampire Slayers.
Caleb, played by Nathan Fillion, is a fictional character in the television
series Buffy the Vampire Slayer created by Joss Whedon.
He was introduced, according to Joss Whedon, because the mutable, non-corporeal
nature of the First Evil "meant that we didn't really have anything to push
against. We needed... a sidekick. Somebody physical that we can see from episode
to episode."[1] Whedon describes him as "the creepiest priest", adding, "he is
the most bald-faced misogynist we've had since, well, since last year, with
Warren."[2]
Contents
[hide] 1 Biography 1.1 Sunnydale
2 Powers and abilities
3 Beliefs
4 Writing and acting
5 Appearances
6 See also
7 References
[edit] Biography
Prior to becoming the right-hand man of the First Evil, Caleb was a defrocked
priest and serial killer responsible for the deaths of at least two girls, whom
he lured with his stirring sermons and masculine charm.
Despite remaining unseen until the last five episodes of the series, Caleb is
revealed to be one of the prime movers for the events of the seventh season. In
an effort to eliminate all threats to the First Evil's resurgence, he directs
hordes of Bringers to systematically kill Potential Slayers around the world. He
also orders the bombing of the Watchers' Council Headquarters in London, causing
the deaths of Quentin Travers and all Watchers and Council Operatives present,
and arranged for one of Faith's fellow L.A. prisoners to attack her in prison.
[edit] Sunnydale
In the episode "Dirty Girls", Caleb murders two potential Slayers (One being
Molly; one of the first potentials to appear in the series) and effortlessly
defeats Buffy, Faith, and Spike. Before the Scooby Gang retreats, he also
violently blinds Xander in one eye by forcing his thumb into his left eye
socket.
In the last two episodes of the series, "End of Days" and "Chosen", Caleb is
killed in a final confrontation by Buffy with the assistance of the
newly-arrived Angel. With Angel watching, Buffy pierces Caleb's abdomen with the
Scythe, apparently killing him. Much to their shock, Caleb is revived with
another power transfusion from the First and immediately knocks Angel
unconscious with a devastating blow. Buffy and Caleb exchange blows once again.
However, his injuries seem to leave him slightly weaker as Buffy is able to
fight more evenly with him. In the end, Buffy cuts Caleb in half vertically,
finally killing him.
Later in the episode, the First Evil appears to Buffy, manifesting under the
guise of the slain Caleb who it confirms Buffy did kill. The First lectures
Buffy on the futility of her campaign against it, and it is this meeting that
encourages Buffy to come up with her plan to activate the remaining Potentials
to full Slayer status using the essence of the scythe taken from the vineyard
two episodes previous.
Caleb's superhuman body serves as a vessel for the awesome power of the noncorporeal First Evil. With the exception of Glory, Caleb's might dwarfs that of Buffy's previous adversaries. When channeling the power of the First Evil, he possesses immense physical strength and durability greatly exceeding that of most vampires, demons, and Slayers. He can easily punch through solid concrete, and send an opponent flying for dozens of feet with a single blow. In their first encounter, he effortlessly defeated the combined might of Buffy, Faith, and Spike: two full-fledged Slayers and an elder vampire. However, with enough experience fighting him, it is possible to overcome his sheer power as shown when Buffy, in the last few episodes, is able to put up a better fight.
However, in order to maintain this power, Caleb must merge with the First to recharge after extended periods. Power transfusions from the First also allow him to return from death, as long as his body is still intact.
Caleb also possesses psychic abilities. He is shown to be capable of telepathy and aura reading.
Behind his priest's collar, Caleb is a sadistic sociopath with a pathological hatred of women. Impressed by his body's fortitude as well as his single-minded nature, the First Evil makes him the commander of its campaign of carnage and mayhem. He likes to reenact his killings by asking the First to take on the form of the girls he killed, so he may "kill them again."
Caleb delivers quasi-biblical quotes, frequently even making allusions to his belief the First is actually God, or perhaps a being even superior to God. When the First, in the guise of Buffy, asks him if he thinks it is God, Caleb replies he believes the First is beyond such definition.
Caleb also comments further on his admiration of the First, when it (under the guise of Buffy) vocalizes its envy of humans' ability to feel lust and engage in primal sexual acts, while several members of the Scooby Gang engage in such activity elsewhere. He dismisses them all as "sinners," commenting enthusiastically the First is miles beyond that, for it is "sin" itself.
The First Evil (various)
The source and embodiment of all that is evil. It can appear in the form of anyone who has died.
The First Evil
The First Evil (also called The First) is a fictional character created by Joss
Whedon for the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The First Evil first appeared
in the third season episode "Amends", and became the main antagonist of the 7th
and final season.
A being manifested from all evil in existence, the First is an incorporeal
entity that can assume the form of any person who has died, including vampires
and dead persons who have been resurrected. Because of this it appears in
various forms over the course of the series depending on who it is appearing to
as a method of manipulation. For this reason, the First usually appears as Buffy
Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) to the Slayer and her allies, but it also
assumes the forms of Warren Mears, Spike, Drusilla and Jonathan Levinson on
multiple occasions, among a variety of other forms taken less frequently.
Its only real weakness is that it is non-corporeal, and can therefore not do
real physical damage. It is, however, expert at psychological manipulation, and
can act through its servants, such as the Bringers, Turok-Han, Caleb or whatever
person it can manage to trick.
Contents
[hide] 1 Biography 1.1 Character history
1.2 Powers and abilities
2 Appearances
3 Further reading
4 See also
[edit] Biography
[edit] Character history
The First Evil claims to be the source and embodiment of all that is evil. For
technical purposes, the First Evil is neither male, female, demon, nor god; it
is a "power". The First is older than demons, even the Old Ones, who themselves
existed long before the first humans; it is older than the written word, the Big
Bang and transcends all realities and dimensions; it is older than any other
evil being and may even be the very first entity ever to have existed. It is
said that the First lurked in the darkness long before the universe was even
created and shall remain long after the universe ends. Few have heard of it and
even fewer believe in its existence.
The entity cannot affect the world on a physical level. Its power lies in its
ability to deceive, torment and manipulate others. It can take the form of
anyone who has died, (or as an enormous, phantasmic demon with large horns and
long, talon-shaped fingers), and it can choose to be seen and heard by just one
person or by multiple people. The First has a deep understanding of human nature
and it uses this knowledge to drive others to madness, murder and/or suicide.
The First makes its initial appearance in the series as a "monster of the week"
that Angel must face in the episode "Amends". It tries to drive the vampire to
kill Buffy by reminding him of his "true" nature (Angelus) and it sets about
accomplishing this by appearing to him as some of his victims: Daniel, Margaret,
Travis and Jenny Calendar. It tells Angel that it is responsible for his return
from Hell, a claim that remains unconfirmed, and that Angel can end his
sufferings by turning evil again. Angel chooses to kill himself using the
sunrise instead. Even though Angel's dusting is not a part of the ideal plan
(elimination of the Slayer), the First does not mind because a powerful blow to
the forces of Good would still be dealt (elimination of the Shanshu Prophecy
candidate).
Buffy's death at the end of season 5 and subsequent resurrection in season 6
caused an irregularity, or glitch, in the Slayer line that the First realizes
and uses to eliminate the Slayer line forever. This glitch could have been
corrected had Buffy remained dead and not been resurrected at the beginning of
season 6. The First planned to use this glitch and kill the Slayer and all the
Potential Slayers thus tipping the balance of good and evil completely off tilt.
All of this is part of the First's master plan to become all powerful and enter
into the hearts, minds and souls of every single man, woman and child on Earth.
First, the First orders its second-in-command, the defrocked priest Caleb to
send the Bringers after potential Slayers and destroy the Watcher's Council. The
First then went to Sunnydale to attempt to open the Hellmouth, manipulating
Andrew to kill Jonathan to do so. However, as Jonathan was anemic, this only
resulted in negative energy flowing out.
The First revealed itself after ordering the Bringers to capture Spike, who it
had spent months psychologically tormenting. Bleeding Spike, it was able to open
the Hellmouth and release a Turok-Han, an ancient primeval uber-vampire, which
it sent after Buffy and company.
After Buffy managed to kill the uber-vampire, the First lays low for a few
weeks, then returns to psychologically torment the Potential Slayers. It also
summons its second in command, Caleb to Sunnydale and begins the search for the
Slayer's Scythe, which Buffy eventually takes. The First was defeated as Buffy,
Faith, Spike and the Potential Slayers made a final assault against The First's
Army of Turok-Han inside the Hellmouth.
The First appears in the video game Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds as
the main antagonist, having helped Ethan Rayne escape from his imprisonment at
the hands of the Initiative, and also participating in a battle between the two
(or rather, each of their five champions). Buffy, Willow, Xander, Faith, Spike,
and Ethan are all transported to the First's dimension (which appears as a
version of Sunnydale similar to "Wishverse" created by Anya) against their will.
[edit] Powers and abilities
Neither male or female, living or dead, the First is pure power. It is the
darkness inside the hearts and souls of all living creatures. The fact that the
First has no physical body makes it impossible, or at least extremely difficult
to kill. Yet, because of this, the First cannot truly interact with the physical
world. However, certain people are able to interact and even become one with the
First, such as Caleb.
The First appears in the physical world as dead people. This included people who
have died, vampires and even dead people who have been resurrected. This allows
the First to manipulate people (such as appearing as Warren to get Andrew to
kill Jonathan), or engage in psychological warfare such as torturing Spike or
appearing as dead Potentials to attack the others. The First seems also to know
mannerisms, information and details of the life of whoever it is appearing as.
This is best shown in "Conversations with Dead People" as the First appears to
Dawn as her mother Joyce, appears to Andrew as Warren and appears to Willow as
Cassie Newton, in an attempt to manipulated them all into serving its purpose.
As, essentially the source of all evil, the First has knowledge of every monster
and dark ritual in existence. This was exemplified by the runes the Bringers
carved into Spike's chest to summon the Turok-Hun.
As the First is said to be eternal, existing before time and believed to be the
only thing remaining after the end of time, it is infinitely patient. A defeat
it suffers is nothing more than a minor setback.
[edit] Appearances
The First Evil has appeared in 16 canonical Buffyverse episodes:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 3 (1998) "Amends" (as Daniel, Margaret, Jenny Calendar, and Travis–name revealed in the shooting scripts).
Season 7 (2002–2003) "Lessons" (as Warren Mears, Glory, Adam, The Mayor,
Drusilla, The Master, and Buffy Summers)
"Selfless" (as Buffy Summers)
"Conversations with Dead People" (as Warren Mears, Cassie Newton, and Joyce Summers)
"Sleeper" (as Buffy Summers and Spike)
"Never Leave Me" (as Buffy Summers, Spike, Warren Mears, and Jonathan Levinson)
"Bring on the Night" (as Spike and Drusilla)
"Showtime" (as Buffy Summers and Eve)
"First Date" (as Jonathan Levinson and Nikki Wood)
"Get It Done" (as Chloe)
"Storyteller" (as Warren Mears)
"Dirty Girls" (as Buffy Summers and Betty)
"Empty Places" (as Buffy Summers)
"Touched" (as Richard Wilkins and Buffy Summers)
"End of Days" (as Buffy Summers)
"Chosen" (as Buffy Summers and Caleb).
Joyce Summers (Kristine Sutherland) (Seasons 1–5)
Buffy's mother is an anchor of normality in the Scoobies' lives, even after she learns of Buffy's role in the supernatural world ("Becoming, Part Two"). In "Lovers Walk", she lends a sympathetic ear to Spike's heartbreak, a gesture that he never forgot. In season 5, she dies of an aneurysm after a tumor is removed from her brain in "I Was Made to Love You". (In the first episode of season 4, Buffy jokes "Can't wait till mom gets the bill for these books; I hope it's a funny aneurysm.") Joyce is one of the few Buffyverse deaths from non-magical causes.
Joyce Summers is a fictional character in the fantasy television series Buffy
the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003). Played by Kristine Sutherland, Joyce is the
mother of the main character, Buffy Summers, and appears in 58 of the 144
episodes.
The premise of the series is that Buffy is the latest Slayer, a young woman endowed by mystical forces with superhuman powers to fight and defeat vampires, demons, and other evil forces in the fictional town of Sunnydale. Like every Slayer before her, she was chosen and informed of her destiny when she was 15 years old. Her mother is unaware of her daughter's powers and responsibilities until Buffy is forced to tell her at the end of the second season of the television series. Although Joyce is shocked at this revelation, she recovers quickly and remains a source of stability for Buffy and Buffy's small circle of friends who assist her, dubbed the Scooby Gang. Eventually Joyce is able to take Buffy's dangerous demon-fighting in stride and even become proud and respectful of her daughter's abilities. Her natural death from an illness in the fifth season forces Buffy to face becoming an adult.
[edit] Creation and casting
The television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (often simplified as Buffy) was
created by Joss Whedon, who originally used the concept of a teenage girl who is
given superhuman powers to fight evil, in a screenplay that became a film in
1992. Unhappy with the outcome of the film, Whedon created the series, which
picks up shortly after the events of the film and is loosely based on its
ending. At the end of the film, which was set in Los Angeles, Buffy fights and
defeats a gang of vampires in her school's gymnasium. At the start of the
television series Buffy and her mother Joyce, who has divorced Buffy's father,
move to a new town named Sunnydale where Buffy is to attend Sunnydale High
School, which, unknown to her, is situated on a portal to hell, called a
Hellmouth. The series explains that she has relocated from Los Angeles after
burning down the gymnasium, marking her as a trouble-making student and a
worrisome daughter.[1][2] The series regularly employs the elements of dark
fantasy and horror to represent the real problems regularly encountered by
adolescents, with many situations also reflecting adult fears and anxieties.[3]
Buffy's parents are barely seen in the film, but her mother Joyce (Kristine
Sutherland), plays a prominent role in the series. Sutherland, a fantasy fiction
fan who dislikes the horror genre, had recently moved to Hollywood from New York
City in 1996 and was not actively looking for acting jobs when her agent called
her with the opportunity to play Joyce. Sutherland auditioned the same day as
David Boreanaz, Buffy's romantic interest Angel, and was impressed with how
naturally she felt at ease with the material in the readings with the writers
and casting agents.[4] Sutherland stated in an interview that she felt she
identified strongly with adolescents. Her empathy for them made her protective
not only of the actors, but their characters as well.[4] However, a storyline
that has Joyce possessed as the mother from hell was one of Sutherland's
favorite possible scripts, but it was cut.[5]
[edit] Progression
[edit] Seasons 1 and 2
Buffy is introduced to her new school as a student who is both emotionally and
academically troubled. With the move to Sunnydale, she believes she is starting
fresh, a notion her mother also believes and encourages.[6] As Buffy establishes
herself in school in early episodes, Joyce, who is recently divorced, is
preoccupied with setting up their home and running an art gallery.[7] Initially
unwilling to become involved again with her role as the Slayer, Buffy is
nevertheless confronted by the school librarian Giles (Anthony Head), her new
Watcher, the mentor and teacher assigned to instruct her how to fight vampires
and other demons she is destined to face. Buffy does not tell her mother about
this development, and Joyce remains ignorant of Buffy's role as the Slayer and
of Giles' influence in her life, something she later resents when he seems to be
closer to Buffy in ways Joyce is not.[8]
Joyce's initial role in the series is, according to scholar J. P. Williams, very
similar to the Superman character Lois Lane, who is unable to discern the
difference between Clark Kent with his glasses on and Superman with his glasses
off. Buffy is frequently referred to as a superhero by authors, and Joyce's
initial ignorance of Buffy's abilities and responsibilities creates skepticism
among both characters in the series and viewers about Joyce's intelligence and
motivations.[9] For example, Joyce sees the extremely attentive Giles merely as
a teacher concerned about Buffy as a student who has experienced academic
problems in the past.[10]
This willful ignorance of Buffy's vocation has been well-analyzed by Buffy
studies scholars. A persistent theme in Buffy is the nearly unbreachable
generation gap between adolescents and adults. Throughout the series, adults are
either unable or unwilling to see the genuine horrors teenagers face. As Buffy's
mother, Joyce is repeatedly confronted with evidence of her daughter's role as
the Slayer; Sutherland saw this as a form of denial on Joyce's part.[5] The
resulting conflict between Joyce and Buffy is both tragic and humorous. When
Buffy skips class or stays out late to attend to her Slayer duties, Joyce is
left trying to punish her by restricting her to the house. Joyce responds to the
dire situations Buffy must face by placing regular and inconvenient restrictions
on her, such as grounding her at a time when Buffy must confront and try to kill
the Master (the head of a vampire cult who is attempting to fulfill a prophecy
that he will kill the Slayer and open the Hellmouth in Sunnydale), saying
sarcastically to Buffy, "I know—if you don't go out it'll be the end of the
world", when in fact, it just may be,[11] or telling Buffy that she is free to
make her own life choices, when Buffy knows exactly what her destiny is, and
that it may include dying young. This duality of language reinforces the
generation gap between the characters.[9]
That the way I as Joyce see Buffy as the Slayer is sort of symbolic, when you
look at your child and realize they are a totally different person than you are
and that they have different gifts and a different calling. It's a separation
thing. In this case it's just more extreme and because it isn't just that she's
an incredible pianist. It's something that has a moral cause behind it and so it
brings dual feelings. 'I'm your mother and 'm older and I'm wiser but yet you're
my daughter and you're this really spectacular person who's going places and
wrestling with things that are beyond what I'll ever have to do in my lifetime.'
Kristine Sutherland [5]
Joyce is, according to author Lorna Jowett, a typical "teen-horror parent":
loving and supporting, but not really facing or knowing the true extent of
reality, therefore ineffective at helping her child.[12] She embodies the
expectation that mothers should intuitively understand their children.[9] Buffy
confronts her mother's denial in "Becoming", the second season finale, forcing
Joyce to see the reality of what Buffy is and does. As a result of their
confrontation, Joyce gives Buffy an ultimatum that she either stay at home or
never come back. As Buffy is compelled to thwart the apocalypse, she accepts her
mother's decision, leaves the house and, ultimately, Sunnydale. Sutherland read
the script for the second season finale in her car, unable to stop reading until
the resolution, where she sat sobbing when it is revealed Buffy leaves.[4] In
their heated encounter Buffy says to her mother, "Open your eyes, Mom. What do
you think has been going on for the past two years? The fights? The weird
occurrences. How many times have you washed blood out of my clothing and you
still haven't figured it out?" Joyce responds by trying to restrict Buffy again,
then attempting to physically restrain her, at which point Buffy ends Joyce's
ideas of parental authority by easily overpowering her and walking out the
door.[12]
Despite her difficulty with understanding Buffy, Joyce frequently expresses her
love for her daughter and supports her when other adults do not. The love Joyce
expresses is interpreted by scholars as an attempt to compensate for having
failed to understand intuitively that something was going on with her daughter
before the revelation that Buffy is the Slayer. Following that revelation, Joyce
makes many attempts to understand what a Slayer does. Many scenes showing Joyce
giving love and support to Buffy take place in their home, establishing it as
center of motherly devotion, stability, and safety. Shots are usually composed
so that the two are not seen in the same frame, or are separated by objects such
as tables, or placed in opposite sides of rooms, a visual representation of
Joyce's inability to understand her daughter's responsibilities and powers.[12]
[edit] Seasons 3 and 4
The third season opens with Buffy returning home from Los Angeles at the end of
"Anne". Joyce and Buffy are at first very ill at ease with each other during the
next episode "Dead Man's Party", while Buffy starts to understand how difficult
Joyce's time has been without her.[13] Sutherland welcomed the change; she felt
the relationship between Joyce and Buffy "became so much richer" after Joyce
finally knew of and faced Buffy's role as the Slayer.[5] The overt conflict of
"Dead Man's Party" has Joyce bringing home a cursed mask that calls zombies to
the house while a party is occurring, killing several people. Author Nikki
Stafford sees the zombies at the party as symbolism for the utter confusion of
dealing with Buffy's return.[14] During the party, Buffy feels so uncomfortable
around her family and friends she considers leaving again. Joyce and Buffy's
best friend Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan) both angrily confront Buffy;
Joyce admits that she does not know all the answers and that giving Buffy an
ultimatum was a mistake. The episode marks Joyce's return as a parent; her
recognition of her own shortcomings in the error of pushing Buffy away is a
measure of nobility common among Joss Whedon's characters.[12]
Following her realization that Buffy is the Slayer, Joyce begins to express
concern for Buffy's well-being and long-term plans. The third season showcases
two episodes in which Joyce is a major character. Both of them posit Buffy as a
parent figure over Joyce. With "Band Candy" the episode begins with Buffy being
petulant and Joyce working with Giles to create a schedule for studying and
slaying, but these roles quickly dissolve in the ensuing chaos. In an attempt to
offer a sacrifice to a demon, Sunnydale's shadowy mayor intoxicates the adults
of the town with drugged chocolate bars, making them devolve into
adolescents.[15] Joyce descends into the behavior of a 16-year old, a prospect
Kristine Sutherland found not only fun, but painful as it brought back memories
she had not faced in years.[5] Giles is also affected, turning into his
adolescent miscreant self, which Joyce finds irresistible (the two have sex on a
police car in the middle of downtown Sunnydale).[16] Giles has become Buffy's
father figure following her parents' divorce, and Buffy finds Joyce's attraction
to Giles disquieting. Joyce had dated before ("Ted") but Buffy, and consequently
the audience, do not see Joyce as a sexual character; she is foremost a mother.
According to Lorna Jowett, Joyce is rare among the characters on the series:
"Joyce is always and only Buffy's mother, never just another person or a member
of the team."[12]
The second instance of role-reversal is in the episode "Gingerbread", where
again children demonstrate more wisdom than the adults. The episode is noted as
highlighting this motif specifically, as the divide between parents and children
is exaggerated and symbolized by Joyce's confusion. In an attempt to learn more
about her daughter's Slayer duties, Joyce follows Buffy on patrol at night,
bringing snacks and saying she wants to observe Buffy work. Joyce finds two dead
children in a playground and is deeply disturbed. After Buffy comforts her
mother, the Scoobies discover that the children are the manifestation of a demon
whose sole purpose is to tear communities apart by sparking moral panics. Joyce,
meanwhile, becomes entirely consumed with finding the culprit of the apparent
murders. She starts a parents' activist organization named "Mothers Opposed to
the Occult" (or "M.O.O." to Buffy's mortification) with Willow's mother, an
academic and parenting expert so self-involved that she virtually ignores her
daughter. Both Buffy and Willow—whose skills in witchcraft are growing—are
seized by M.O.O., who attempt to burn them at the stake.[17][18] Joyce takes a
leadership role, giving a speech to concerned parents about the unnatural evils
in the town, citing the "slayers and witches" among other monsters. Her
compulsion to become involved in Buffy's dark world, with its disastrous
results, represents her feeling of helplessness in relation to Buffy's calling.
She is unable to protect or comprehend what Buffy must endure—another expression
of teenage-parent alienation.
In the fourth season, as Buffy and Willow attend college, Joyce's role is scaled
back considerably. Kristine Sutherland and her family moved to Italy to live, so
she starred in only five episodes in the season,[5] including the first one,
"The Freshman," when Buffy comes home during her bewildering first week at
college to discover that Joyce has filled her room with packing crates from the
art gallery. This sign of her mother's life going on without her increases
Buffy's disorientation and underscores Joyce's independent life.[20] Consequent
to her mother's distance, Buffy must begin to face some of her problems alone,
the least of which is cooking Thanksgiving dinner for Giles and the Scooby Gang
in "Pangs". Buffy encounters a female psychology professor at college who
challenges and frustrates her, but also validates her intellect, something Buffy
has not been well known for. Professor Maggie Walsh becomes, for the first part
of the season, a substitute mother for Buffy.[9] The last episode of the
season,"Restless", explores the dreams of Willow, Xander Harris (Nicholas
Brendon), Giles, and Buffy. Joyce appears as a seductress to Xander (in a red
silk nightgown), and appears again in Buffy's dream as Buffy wanders the halls
of college. Joyce is stuck inside a wall, saying that she is content making
lemonade and learning to play mahjong. The enigmatic nature of "Restless" allows
analysts to explain the depth of the characters and their relationships, as well
as the foreshadowing of events to come in subsequent seasons. Joyce's
confinement in a tight space in Buffy's dream indicates that Buffy considers her
mother's life to be very limited.[9] The hole in the wall through which Joyce
and Buffy speak briefly shows only Joyce's head and shoulders, which, according
to Nikki Stafford, is the prevailing image in the fifth season episode "The
Body", an episode which explores Joyce's death and its immediate aftermath.[21]
[edit] Season 5: Joyce's death
As noted by author Roz Kaveny, Joyce becomes central to the fifth season themes
of family and Buffy facing forces she is unable to fight or control. A new
character is introduced to the Summers family: Buffy gets a 14-year-old sister
named Dawn (Michelle Trachtenberg), who is a the mystical embodiment of a "key"
which opens a portal to a hell dimension. Although Dawn is unaware of what she
is, Buffy learns her true identity after becoming suspicious that Dawn is
attempting to harm Joyce. After experiencing debilitating headaches, collapsing,
then requiring hospitalization, Joyce learns that she has a brain tumor. A
side-effect of the tumor is that Joyce sees Dawn as she truly is: a bright,
beautiful, mystical energy that must be protected from harm. Despite knowing the
truth of Dawn's origins, Joyce still loves her, realizing that she is an
innocent who belongs in the Summers family. The spell which made Dawn human also
made her biologically related to Joyce and Buffy. To protect Dawn as well as
tend to Joyce after she has brain surgery, Buffy moves out of her dorm and
returns to the family home. Riley Finn (Marc Blucas), Buffy's boyfriend for the
past year, leaves in the episode "Into the Woods". Following his departure, and
in the course of the episode "I Was Made to Love You", Buffy comes to feel that
she does not need a boyfriend. Her confidence in this decision is immediately
shaken at the end of the episode when she comes home to find her mother's
lifeless body on the sofa. Joyce's death is fully explored in "The Body" as the
entire cast of characters struggles to understand how the once-vibrant Joyce has
become a body in the morgue.[22][23][24] Scholar Jess Battis writes that in
contrast to the way family members are portrayed throughout the series as absent
(Willow's), chaotic (Xander's), or highly disruptive (Anya's), Joyce straddles
these extremes. The ease of her success at mothering a violent superhero and a
mystical key while appearing to enjoy a normal life is eroded by a brain tumor,
and only then do she and the other characters come to understand what a complex
job she has. To scholars the tumor represents the physical manifestation of not
being able to take care of Buffy, or a form of mortality that Buffy will not
soon face.
[edit] Other appearances
Joyce appears in four episodes after her death in "The Body", first as a young
woman in season five's "The Weight of the World": Buffy has a recurring but
false memory of her parents bringing Dawn home as a newborn.[31] The episode
deals with Buffy's inability to cope with her mother's death and her inadequacy
at protecting Dawn, and explores Buffy's obsession with her failure and
guilt.[32] The sixth season episode "Normal Again" posits Buffy's world of
Sunnydale as a manifestation of psychopathology: after being stabbed by a demon,
Buffy becomes convinced that the world in which she is a hero is an illusion.
Her parents, who have remained happily married, visit her in a mental
institution and encourage her to fight the seductive world she has imagined and
return home with them.[33][34] Joyce appears twice in the seventh season: she
haunts Dawn as a face of the First Evil in "Conversations with Dead
People",[35][36] and makes her final appearance again as an incarnation of the
First Evil in Buffy's dream in "Bring on the Night".[37]
[edit] Influence
Throughout the series, Buffy frequently expresses anxiety about being wanted and
accepted. One of the most overt expressions of her concern is in the first
season episode "Nightmares", where characters' nightmares come true. In Buffy's
nightmare, her father cruelly tells her he no longer wants to spend any time
with her because of her defects as a daughter. She further worries that her
ostensible troubled behavior at school and disobedience at home may have been a
significant reason for the ending of her parents' marriage. She pushes away her
friends and family to protect them from what she must face, while simultaneously
depending on their assistance. Psychologists writing about Buffy state that she
is a candidate for an anxiety disorder, as most often people diagnosed with
anxiety disorders worry and fixate on problems, behaviors which studies suggest
are inherited. In this light, they analyze Joyce's actions as overprotective of
Buffy in early seasons: her vigilance causes Buffy to need to sneak in and out
of the house through her bedroom window. Joyce is also continually encouraging
her to avoid badly-behaved classmates.[38] Regardless of this, Joyce's nurturing
of Buffy is cited as being one of the reasons Buffy has been able to live as
long as she has — much longer than other Slayers, who historically have usually
died very young — and is a source of Buffy's strength. Joyce and Giles often
work in similar ways to guide Buffy morally and emotionally. Buffy's tragic love
affair with Angel, a relationship that could bring neither of them any
happiness, was broken off, in part, after Joyce's request that Angel be the one
to end it.
Jenny Calendar (Robia LaMorte) (Seasons 1–2)
High school computer teacher, and member of the gypsy tribe who cursed Angel. She becomes Giles' love interest and a mentor to Willow. In the episodes "Surprise" and "Innocence", it is revealed that she is a descendent of the Romani tribe who cursed Angelus by restoring his soul, and is in Sunnydale to watch and try to prevent the development of the relationship between Angel and Buffy so that Angel continues to suffer. After Angel loses his soul, she tries to find a way to restore it, but is killed by Angelus in "Passion" just as she's figured out how to do it.
Jenny Calendar was the first prominent character to be killed in the series, and Joss Whedon noted the significance of this as a sign of his seriousness about emphasizing the genuine danger his characters are in. She returns in season 3, but as the First Evil, who has assumed her form.
In the first two seasons of the series, Jenny Calendar is Giles' primary
romantic interest. She serves to counter his technophobia and is a rare adult
female role model for the young women in Buffy's circle. During the second
season her true identity is revealed: she is Janna Kalderash, a member of the
Gypsy tribe that cursed Angel. In response to an elder's visions that Angel is
suffering less due to his growing romance with Buffy, Jenny is instructed to
impede their relationship. As a result of events during the second season
storylines, Angel loses his soul and becomes evil, reverting to his former ways
of torturing and killing, eventually making Jenny his victim. Among the main
cast, she is the series' first recurring character to die, and the manner of her
death is noted for its disturbing effect on audiences.
Jenny Calendar's first appearance is in the episode "I Robot, You Jane", which
deals with the risks of online romance. Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan), one
of Buffy's friends, is spending time online with someone she knows as Malcolm,
who turns out to be a demon named Moloch the Corrupter. The series regularly
employs monsters and elements of dark fantasy to represent real-life
problems. As a Watcher, Giles is extremely knowledgeable about the creatures
that Buffy must face. He has a large collection of books detailing the demon
realms, upon which he relies as the main tool of research and problem-solving.
Jenny challenges his traditional approach and helps him to solve the problem of
how to find and kill the demon when Giles reveals himself to be a technophobe;
she both frustrates and flirts with him in the process. Jenny's character was
not intended to be recurring, but the chemistry exhibited between LaMorte and
Head encouraged the writers to make her a regular member of the cast.
Jenny's role as a recurring character was cemented in "Prophecy Girl", where she
acknowledges that she is aware of the many evil forces in Sunnydale and
indicates she is willing to join the Scoobies in their fight against them.
Jenny frequently helps through her access to, and knowledge of, technology; she
and the related role of Willow represent the marriage of science and magic on
the series. Jenny refers to herself as a techno-pagan, not a witch. She says
she does not have the necessary power to be a witch, but is adept at researching
demons and other occult topics to assist Giles and Buffy. Jenny introduces
viewers to the series' expression of magic. In contrast to the more cliched
portrayals of magic in the media as an evil force akin to Satan-worshiping
tinged with sexploitation, magic in Buffy instead represents a more earth-bound
force that can be harnessed for a physical price. Jenny tells Giles that
email and bone-casting are equally valid forms of receiving information. The
combination of technology and magic represent the joining of masculine and
feminine fields, which Jenny Calendar embodies.
Furthermore, many of Jenny's qualities demonstrate a closer kinship with the
adolescent characters than the adult ones. In the first season, the female
adolescents—Buffy, Willow, and Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter)—establish their
identities in contrast to older women, usually parents or teachers. Jenny's
youthful style and her rejection of a staid way of life indicate that she is a
role model for the young female characters. They do not see her as an
adversarial adult.
[edit] Season 2
The conflicts in the second season broaden to explore the difficulties faced by Buffy as she becomes torn between love and duty—a theme which is also reflected in Jenny's storyline. Jenny and Giles begin dating in the episode "Some Assembly Required", and his attempts to ask her out force him into facing issues far more frightening than the monsters and demons with which he is familiar, and bring her into direct conflict with her secret reason for being in Sunnydale. Their romance is at the center of "The Dark Age", where it is revealed that Giles' past includes a youthful exploration into dark magic, when he was known to his friends as "Ripper". The result of this experimentation 20 years ago calls a demon named "Eyghon" to Sunnydale; the demon temporarily possesses Jenny, prompting her to halt their relationship. At the end of the episode, she tells Giles she needs some time away from him. Although the make-up requirement for LaMorte's appearance as Eyghon nearly gave her an anxiety attack, she considered this the most fun episode she filmed. She was called upon to throw Giles across the room and slam his head onto a table.
In "Surprise" it is revealed that Jenny is an emissary from the tribe that cursed Angel. Her true name is Janna (pronounced Yannah) Kalderash, and she has been sent to ensure he continues to suffer for his past brutality. Janna's Uncle Enyos (Vincent Schiavelli) comes to remind her of her duty to her people and he expresses his disappointment that, as a woman from a group of people wary of technology and intermarriage with outsiders, she has become a computer teacher in a relationship with a non-Gypsy. Angel's ongoing torment allows the curse to continue working and must be maintained. However, an "Elder Woman" has had visions that Angel's pain is lessening and that this cannot be allowed to happen—Jenny must separate him from Buffy, as she is the cause of his relief. Enyos does not tell her a significant element of the curse: should Angel ever experience even one moment of true happiness, his soul will again disappear, making him "Angelus", the evil vampire he was. This factor comes into play when Buffy and Angel have sex in "Innocence" as in the intimacy of that experience he feels happiness deep enough to trigger the loss of his soul. Angelus becomes the second season's Big Bad and begins to terrorize Buffy and her inner circle by stalking and threatening them. Buffy subsequently figures out that Jenny is involved in Angel's transformation and confronts her. This revelation causes a deep rift between Jenny and the rest of the Scoobies and effectively halts her romance with Giles. Buffy demands that she curse Angel again, but Jenny does not know how to do this. Angelus' first act is to kill Enyos. For most of the rest of the second season Jenny remains estranged from Buffy's circle; only Willow, who Jenny asks to teach her computer class for her, regularly interacts with her.
By the episode "Passion" it has become clear that Angelus is targeting Buffy's friends and family and has, in Giles' words, "regained his sense of whimsy", demonstrated by petty cruelties that keep the group unsettled and frightened. In their first real conversation since estrangement, Giles warns Jenny to beware of the increasing danger to them all; during this conversation she admits to Giles that she has fallen in love with him and they agree to meet later. Despite the improbability of success and without telling Giles or Buffy, Jenny attempts to restore Angel's soul by using her computer to translate the ancient curse. Upon learning what she is doing, Angelus destroys the computer, taunts Jenny, then laughs as he chases her through the school, finally killing her by snapping her neck. He then takes Jenny's body to Giles' apartment and sets up music, champagne, and roses, as if she is awaiting him in his bedroom for a romantic encounter; Giles then finds her dead body arranged on his bed. To derive the maximum pleasure from what he has done, Angelus waits outside Buffy's house to watch their shock and distress as Buffy and Willow receive the call that Jenny has been murdered.
Wesley Wyndam-Pryce (Alexis Denisof) (Season 3)
A second Watcher originally sent to replace Giles. Fired as a watcher, he appears in Los Angeles as a "rogue demon hunter", and becomes Angel Investigations' expert in occult lore.
Notable powers
Sorcery
Highly proficient marksman
Encyclopedic knowledge of demons
Genius-level intellect
Polyglot
Wesley Wyndam-Pryce (also spelled Wyndam-Price[1] and Wyndham-Price[2]) is a
fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television series Buffy the
Vampire Slayer and Angel. Played by Alexis Denisof, Wesley first appeared in
nine episodes of Buffy's third season in 1999 before moving over to spin-off
series Angel where he became, and remained, a main character for five seasons.
Following Angel's final season, the character's story is continued in the 2007
canonical comic book series Angel: After the Fall.
Wesley is introduced as a member of the Watchers' Council—an organization which
trains Slayers to fight monsters such as vampires and demons. Created as an
irritating foil for the character of Rupert Giles, he was intended to be killed
off shortly after his first appearance, but the character was popular with his
creators and was instead written into Angel where he joined a supernatural
detective agency. Over the course of Angel, Wesley went through dramatic
character developments, becoming darker and less comedic. He was killed in the
show's final episode, and appears in a ghostly form in the comic book
continuation.
[edit] Appearances
[edit] Television
Wesley is introduced in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer season three (1998–1999)
episode "Bad Girls" as the new Watcher of Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and
Faith (Eliza Dushku). Pompous and ineffective, he fails to elicit any respect
from either his Slayers or his predecessor, Rupert Giles (Anthony Stewart Head),
all of whom frequently ridicule and undermine him. He develops a crush on high
school senior Cordelia Chase (Charisma Carpenter), and their mutual flirting
throughout the season culminates in a pair of awkward kisses in the finale
"Graduation Day, Part Two".[3] When Faith goes rogue after accidentally killing
a human being, the Scooby Gang neglect to inform Wesley, and his subsequent
interference ruins Faith's brief chance at redemption.[4] When Wesley fails to
convince the Watchers' Council to help save the life of her vampire lover Angel
(David Boreanaz), an enraged Buffy severs all ties with them. Despite this,
Wesley offers his assistance in the fight against the Mayor, proving entirely
useless in battle when he is knocked down almost instantly.
Wesley reappears in the first season (1999–2000) of spin-off show Angel, in the
episode "Parting Gifts". Introduced as a self-proclaimed "rogue demon hunter",
Wesley reveals that he was fired from the Watchers' Council for incompetence,
but is soon accepted into supernatural detective agency Angel Investigations,
working alongside Angel and Cordelia (effectively filling the gap left by the
death of Doyle (Glenn Quinn)). When Faith is hired by evil law firm Wolfram &
Hart to assassinate Angel, Wesley is kidnapped and tortured by his former
charge, until Angel forces Faith to take responsibility for her actions.
Although still bitter towards her and doubtful of her chances at redemption,
Wesley proves his loyalty to Angel by betraying his former colleagues at the
Watchers' Council to protect Faith. In the second season (2000–2001), Wesley
embarks on a romantic relationship with a woman named Virginia Bryce after
helping to prevent her father from sacrificing her to a demon. When Angel
descends into darkness and fires the team, Wesley continues Angel Investigations
with Cordelia and Charles Gunn (J. August Richards). Having overcome his
cowardice of earlier episodes, he gets himself shot trying to protect Gunn and
spends the next two episodes in a wheelchair; this injury also leads to the
demise of his relationship with Virginia, who becomes disturbed by his dangerous
lifestyle. When Angel returns to the fold, Wesley is appointed team leader, but
feels inferior due to his father's berating and Angel's habit of taking charge.
However, when put in charge of a rebellion in the demon dimension Pylea, Wesley
proves to be an effective, albeit ruthless, leader.
In Angel's third season (2001–2002), Wesley's path becomes filled with tragedies
and difficult choices. Just as he starts developing romantic feelings for his
teammate Fred (Amy Acker), he finds himself mystically influenced to kill her
after a demon influences him to become homicidally misogynistic. While studying
the birth of Angel's infant son Connor, Wesley discovers a prophecy which claims
that Angel will kill the baby. Intending to take him to safety, Wesley betrays
his friends and kidnaps Connor, and delivers the baby to Angel's sworn enemy,
Holtz, a decision which has disastrous consequences when he has his throat slit
and the baby is kidnapped into a hell dimension by Angel's enemies. Angel then
attempts to kill him while he is in recovery at the hospital. Alienated from
Angel Investigations, a recovered Wesley forms his own team to fight evil, but
maintains an interest in his former friends' affairs. He also begins a sexual
relationship with Wolfram & Hart lawyer Lilah Morgan (Stephanie Romanov), who
tries to convince him to join the firm. In the fourth season (2002–2003), Angel
is rescued and revived by Wesley after being sunk to the bottom of the ocean by
his now-adolescent son Connor (Vincent Kartheiser). Wesley eventually returns to
the team full-time to help them battle the Beast, making difficult decisions
such as seeking the aid of Angel's evil alter ego Angelus and breaking Faith out
of prison. Having developed genuine feelings for Lilah, he mourns her when she
is killed by Cordelia, now possessed by the entity known as Jasmine (Gina
Torres). In the season finale, following the defeat of Jasmine, Wesley joins the
rest of Angel Investigations in taking over Wolfram & Hart in the hopes that
they can turn it into a power for good.
Season five (2003–2004) sees Wesley suffer yet more loss. In the episode
"Lineage", Wesley's father makes his first appearance after being alluded to in
earlier episodes. Roger Wyndam-Pryce (Roy Dotrice) is revealed to have sinister
intentions when he tries to steal Angel's free will and threatens to murder
Fred; Wesley responds by shooting him dead, only to discover he was not actually
his father, but a cyborg copy. Despite the deception having been revealed, he is
visibly shaken by his willingness to end his father's life to save another.
After being in love with her for almost two seasons, Wesley finally gets
together with Fred in the subsequent episode "Smile Time", only to watch her die
in the next episode when she is taken over by the ancient demon Illyria.[5] He
retaliates by killing Knox, the man responsible for raising Illyria, and
stabbing Gunn after discovering he played an indirect role in Fred's death.[6]
Descending into alcoholism, Wesley holds onto Illyria as the only thing he has
left of Fred, helping her understand the human world she is unfamiliar with. He
inadvertently restores his and his friends' memories of Connor when he smashes
the Orlon Window, thinking that Angel had betrayed his trust. Wesley visibly
feels guilty after remembering how he betrayed his friends by taking Connor from
Angel and later apologizes to Gunn for stabbing him. Towards the end of the
season, Angel proposes an attack against the Circle of the Black Thorn, a
powerful group of demons under the employ of the Wolfram & Hart's Senior
Partners. In the show's final episode, Wesley does battle with the warlock Cyvus
Vail (Dennis Christopher) and is mortally wounded. He spends his dying moments
with Illyria at his side, finally agreeing to let the demon take the form of
Fred, thus allowing Wesley, in some way, to say goodbye to the woman he
Principal Robin Wood (D. B. Woodside) (Season 7)
The son of a past Slayer, Nikki Wood (killed by Spike), who becomes a Buffy ally in the final season. He becomes the love interest of Faith.
First appearance
"Lessons"
Created by
Joss Whedon
Portrayed by
D. B. Woodside
Information
Affiliation
Scooby Gang
Robin M. Wood is a recurring character on the television series Buffy the
Vampire Slayer. The character, present for most of Season Seven, is played by D.
B. Woodside.
Contents
[hide] 1 Biography 1.1 Post-Sunnydale
1.2 Powers
2 Appearances 2.1 Canonical appearances
3 References
[edit] Biography
Robin is the first (and only) principal of the newly rebuilt Sunnydale High
School when Dawn Summers begins her sophomore year. At first, Buffy wonders if
he may be evil, but nevertheless accepts a job offer from him. For much of the
season, hints are dropped that Robin is aware of the mystical situation in
Sunnydale - he finds and buries Jonathan Levinson's body, for example - but the
viewer is left without any indication as to which side he fights for. Buffy is
surprised at his youth. He is shown to have a good sense of humor and
communicates well with students. He is a vegetarian and claims to have once been
suspended for threatening to attack another student who bullied him during high
school. Robin's easygoing attitude and confidence are in sharp contrast to the
nervous Principal Flutie and strict disciplinarian Principal Snyder.
In the episode "First Date," it is revealed that Robin's mother, Nikki Wood (who
was first seen in the episode "Fool for Love"), had been a Slayer in New York,
and that he is a "freelance" demon fighter. On a date with Buffy, Robin explains
that his mother was killed by a vampire; he later learns, from the First Evil,
that this vampire is Spike. He was raised and trained by Nikki's Watcher, not in
New York but in Beverly Hills (according to the episode "Help").
As retribution for his mother's murder, Robin conspires with Giles to distract
Buffy and kill Spike. However, the plan fails and Buffy realizes what has gone
on, temporarily alienating Robin from the group. After Faith's return, Robin
returns to the fold and becomes interested in Faith; the two become physically
intimate in the episode "Touched", though it appears to be a one-night stand.
Prior to the final battle in the episode "Chosen", Robin expresses concern that
Faith views men as mere sex objects, and pledges to surprise her if they
survive.
[edit] Post-Sunnydale
Robin appears in "No Future for You", the second arc of the canonical comic book
series Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight. Like Andrew, Robin is in charge of
a squad of slayers, and is shown to be working at the Hellmouth in Cleveland. In
his one-panel appearance he calls Faith to tell her of a family that was
recently attacked by vamps. Faith refers to him as "the ex" implying the couple
has ended their relationship since "Chosen".[1]
[edit] Powers
Robin did not inherit any powers from his mother. He was however trained in the martial arts and various vampire killing tactics by his mother's former Watcher.
Harmony Kendall (Mercedes McNab) (Seasons 1–5)
A vapid high school companion to Cordelia Chase, who becomes a humorously inept vampire in later seasons, and goes on to be a regular character on Angel. Harmony is the only character other than Angel to appear in both the first episode of Buffy and the final episode of Angel. Additionally, she appears in the unaired Buffy pilot. She returns again in Season 8, where she informs everyone that vampires exist on her reality show.
Harmony Kendall
Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel character
Mercedes McNab as Harmony Kendall
First appearance
The Harvest" (1997)
Created by
Joss Whedon
Portrayed by
Mercedes McNab
Information
Affiliation
Wolfram & Hart
Classification
Vampire
Notable powers
Superhuman strength, speed, stamina, agility, and reflexes
Acute sensory perception, rapid healing and immortality
Harmony Kendall is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the
television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off Angel. The character
is portrayed by Mercedes McNab. Originally cast as a minor character, McNab's
credited status elevated to guest star and ultimately series regular over the
course of her tenure in Buffy and Angel.
Contents
[hide] 1 Appearances 1.1 Television
1.2 Literature
2 Powers and abilities
3 Appearances 3.1 Canonical appearances
4 References
5 Bibliography
6 Further reading
[edit] Appearances
[edit] Television
Harmony appeared in the unaired pilot as a member of Cordelia Chase's clique,
the "Cordettes."[1] She subsequently appears in the second episode of Season
One, "The Harvest," and makes appearances throughout the first three seasons,
and then a larger role in another two. When Cordelia begins dating Xander
Harris, Harmony shuns her from their clique and usurps her position as leader of
the group. After Cordelia and Xander's breakup, Harmony cruelly tricks Cordelia
into thinking she has been re-admitted into the clique, only to humiliate and
reject her. In the episode "The Wish," a vengeance demon grants Cordelia's wish
that Buffy had never arrived in Sunnydale. Harmony appears in the alternate,
hellish reality, again a follower of Cordelia's "Cordettes."[2]
In the final showdown with Mayor Wilkins during his Ascension in the episode
"Graduation Day," Harmony (as part of an attempt by Buffy to help organize a
student resistance) is killed/sired by a vampire. She reappears in the episode
"The Harsh Light of Day" as a vampire, having retained her characteristic
pettiness, susceptibility to stronger-willed people, and an affection for
unicorn figurines). Harmony begins a sexual relationship with Spike, her
"blondie bear." Neither Spike nor Harmony are satisfied with their relationship;
Spike is frustrated by Harmony's ignorance and clinginess while she is
exasperated with his endless broken promises and repeated attempts to kill
Buffy. They separate, although she agrees to rekindle their relationship after
Spike escapes from the Initiative. Harmony quickly regrets this decision after
recognizing Spike's renewed campaign against the Slayer, and even chases him out
of her lair with a stake when he desperately seeks her help in the episode
"Pangs."[3]
Spike's ambition to kill the Slayer apparently rubs off. After separating from
Spike, Harmony wants to be an independent, strong vampire who can get by on her
own; accordingly, in the episode "Real Me," she gathers her own gang and makes
her own attempt to kill Buffy, which ends in disaster. Her minions destroyed,
Harmony returns to Spike for protection until it becomes clear that Spike's
infatuation with Buffy has become an obsession (cf. "Crush").[4]
Having departed Sunnydale, Harmony is next seen in the Buffy spin-off Angel, in
the episode "Disharmony." She visits her old friend Cordelia in Los Angeles, not
telling Cordelia she has become a vampire. Harmony tries to connect with
Cordelia, but has difficulty controlling her demon side. She enters Cordelia's
bedroom at night, driven by bloodlust, but apologizes for her actions and
intentions when Cordelia wakes up. Cordelia misunderstands her explanation,
believing her to be a lesbian until the matter is cleared up by Willow in a
phone call. Despite this, Cordelia insists on giving Harmony a chance, while
rest of the team grows increasingly frustrated with her habits such as popping
gum or tearing pages out of old, irreplaceable books. She accompanies the Angel
Investigations team on a mission to investigate a new vampire cult, but soon
betrays them to their enemies. Cordelia nearly kills Harmony, but, out of some
respect for the friendship they once shared, allows her to leave.
Over two years later, Harmony tries to make a life for herself in L.A. She gains
employment at the L.A. branch of Wolfram & Hart, as a member of the secretarial
pool. Harmony is attracted by the building's necro-tempered glass windows
(designed to protect vampires from sunlight which would otherwise cause them to
burst into flames), as well as the firm's non-judgmental workplace culture and
dental plan. A few weeks into her employment with the firm, Wesley Wyndam-Pryce
hires her out of the blue to be Angel's new personal secretary, after Angel and
his staff are given control of that branch of Wolfram & Hart; Wesley apparently
thought a familiar face would be good for Angel. Angel reluctantly agrees, on
the strict condition that Harmony continues to refrain from drinking human
blood.[5]
Harmony is reunited with Spike when he returns, first as a ghost and then in
corporeal form. She tries to connect with him, and initially hopes to renew
their relationship now that he has a soul. Spike shows no interest for Harmony
until he regains his corporeal form and proceeds to seduce her into a brief,
disastrous fling, after which neither of them puts any effort into rekindling
their tumultuous relationship.
At this point in her un-life, Harmony feels isolated and alone. She knows that
she is incompetent as an evil vampire, but her struggle to lead a more normal
life is hindered because she lacks a soul. Angel often treats her with distrust
and barely masked hostility, and her input, ideas, and presence are generally
ignored by his team. Harmony also experiences an inability to connect with her
co-workers, who resent her quick rise to the position of the CEO's secretary. In
the episode "Harm's Way," she is framed for murder by Tamika, another vampire
secretary who wants her job; Tamika also substitutes human blood for her supply
of otter blood, to make it appear as though Harmony drank from the victim.[6]
She clears her name and ironically saves a demon summit by staking her scheming
rival on a conference table with a pair of chopsticks, since the demons required
a W&H employee's death to seal their deal. Despite her incompetence, Harmony
manages to prove a 'sort of' asset to the team, 'torturing' Eve (i.e. hitting
Eve in the face a few times) to get information, helping Wesley search for
information about Knox's plans, and aiding Lorne in protecting Eve from her
replacement as their liaison to the Senior Partners. She strikes up a brief
friendship with Fred Burkle, though her relationship with Illyria, the demon who
later inhabits Fred's body, is quite frosty.
Harmony becomes a member of the regular cast starting with the episode
"Underneath". In the series finale, "Not Fade Away," she betrays Angel,
revealing his plans to go after Archduke Sebassis to Marcus Hamilton, the Senior
Partners' new liaison, with whom she has a sexual relationship. Angel, however,
always expected her to betray him at some point, so he had only confided
information he wanted her to reveal. After her betrayal (which Angel blames on
her lack of a soul, and she blames on his lack of confidence in her), he fires
her, but not before providing her with a letter of recommendation (which he had
already written and signed, in anticipation of her disloyalty). As Angel and
Hamilton prepare to fight each other, she runs off, wishing them both luck: "May
the best man win!"[7]
[edit] Powers and abilities
Harmony has the standard powers and vulnerabilities of a vampire. Several episodes make comedy of her subpar fighting skills, though after later training she holds her own against Riley and Spike, and in "Harm's Way" she kills another vampire after a long battle. In "Harmonic Divergence", she kills a Slayer, though partially by accident. In the Harmony Bites e-comic, she easily kills Justin, a vampire she sired, by quickly deflecting his attempt at staking her.
Faith Lehane (Eliza Dushku) (Seasons 3–4, 7)
Faith, a Slayer, is called when Kendra is killed by the vampire Drusilla. When she arrives in Sunnydale, she fights alongside Buffy and the Scooby Gang. After accidentally committing murder, she indulges her violent tendencies and joins forces with the Mayor. Buffy stabs Faith, who falls into a coma; eight months later she wakes up and swaps bodies with Buffy. After being defeated, she flees to Los Angeles and accepts a contract to kill Angel. Angel is able to rehabilitate her, and she confesses to her crimes and goes to prison. Three years later, she breaks out to capture Angelus when Wesley Wyndam-Pryce informs her that he has been released. After Angel is re-ensouled, Faith reluctantly returns to Sunnydale to stand with Buffy against the First Evil. She temporarily leads both the Scoobies and the Potentials when the general faith in Buffy dissolves.
Throughout the series, Faith displays a much darker, dangerously fun-seeking approach to both slaying and murder; she is the dark side of a Slayer's personality.
Faith Lehane
First appearance
"Faith, Hope & Trick" (Buffy, 1998)
Created by
Joss Whedon, David Greenwalt
Portrayed by
Eliza Dushku
Information
Affiliation
Watchers' Council
Scooby Gang
Mayor Wilkins
Wolfram & Hart
Notable powers
Supernatural strength, speed, stamina, agility, and reflexes
Rapid healing
Prophetic dreams
Faith is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Played by actress Eliza Dushku, Faith was introduced in the third season of Buffy and was a focus of that season's overarching plot. She returned for shorter story arcs on Buffy and its spin-off, Angel. The character's story is continued in the comic book series Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, and she also appears in apocryphal material such as other comic books and novels. Faith was set to receive her own spin-off television series after the final season of Buffy, but Eliza Dushku declined the offer, and the series was never made. The character later co-stars in the 25-issue comic book Angel & Faith beginning in August 2011 under the banner of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Nine, the story taking place mostly in London and the surrounding area.[1] Seven years after the character's creation, Whedon granted her the surname Lehane for a role-playing game and subsequent material. The last issue of Season Eight was the first source officially confirmed to be canon that referred to Faith by her full name.
Faith is a Slayer: a girl endowed with supernatural abilities and destined to battle evil creatures such as vampires and demons. Created as a foil to the protagonist, Buffy Summers, she is a Slayer who comes from a damaged background and often makes the wrong decision. Initially an ally to the main characters, events take a toll on Faith's sanity and she slips into a villainous role. Later storylines show her feeling remorse for her past crimes, and with Angel's help she eventually rejoins the side of good in the hopes of achieving redemption.
In Buffy the Vampire Slayer season three, Faith arrives in Sunnydale, having been activated as the Slayer by the death of Kendra (Bianca Lawson) in the episode "Becoming, Part One". Coming from a traumatic and abusive background, Faith tries to fit in with Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and her friends, but becomes increasingly isolated and bitter as the season progresses.[4] A major turning point for the character occurs in the mid-season episode "Bad Girls"; while trying to show Buffy the fun side of slaying, Faith accidentally kills Deputy Mayor Allan Finch (Jack Plotnick), a human being whom she mistakes for a vampire.[5] Feeling more alienated than ever, she betrays the Scooby Gang and allies herself with the villainous Mayor of Sunnydale (Harry Groener), eventually forming a sincere father-daughter relationship with him. After Faith tries to murder Buffy's vampire lover Angel (David Boreanaz) under the Mayor's orders, the two Slayers finally battle it out in the season finale, a confrontation which leaves Faith alive but comatose.
Faith returns to Buffy for two episodes in the fourth season. Waking up from her coma, she seeks revenge on Buffy by switching their bodies using a mystical device called the Draconian Katra left to her by the now-deceased Mayor. As Buffy is taken into custody by the Watchers' Council for crimes she did not commit, Faith discovers for the first time what it is like to be surrounded by loving friends and family, and Buffy starts to understand Faith despite being upset with her predicament. After feeling obligated to rescue a church full of people from vampires, Faith battles Buffy once again, expressing extreme self-hatred before being returned to her own body. The storyline is continued in the first season of spin-off series Angel, as Faith escapes to Los Angeles and is hired by Wolfram & Hart to assassinate Angel. Instead, she plots an intricate plan to have Angel kill her, but Angel convinces her to face the consequences of her actions, and helps her on the path to redemption. Faith hands herself over to the police and she is sentenced to a women's prison, where Angel later visits her.
In Angel season four, Angel is reverted to the evil Angelus after having his soul removed.[12] Faith is approached by her former Watcher, Wesley Wyndam-Pryce (Alexis Denisof), who informs her of Angelus's presence, sparking her to break out of prison and help them. Wanting to help Angel the way he helped her, Faith injects herself with a mystical drug and feeds herself to Angelus in order to incapacitate him. She nearly dies from the drug, but during a psychic mind walk, Angel persuades her subconscious not to give up and that life is worth living.
Afterwards, a recovered Faith travels back to Sunnydale, where she plays a significant role in the battle against the First Evil in the final season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In these episodes, she reconciles with Buffy, although their relationship is tested when the Potential Slayers appoint Faith as their leader over Buffy. This decision later proves disastrous when Faith's plan leads them into a trap, leaving several girls dead. She and the survivors are saved by Buffy, and the two finally make peace with one another. After a one-night-stand together, Faith begins a romantic relationship with school principal Robin Wood (D.B. Woodside) when they both survive the battle in the series finale.
Kendra Young (Bianca Lawson)
Kendra Young was a Slayer from Jamaica who was activated in 1997 by Buffy Summers' temporary death. Trained by her Watcher Sam Zabuto, Kendra was completely dedicated to her calling. She was an ally to the Scooby Gang in battling the vampires Spike and Drusilla, but was killed in 1998 by Drusilla after only a year-long tenure as Slayer.
Kendra Young's parents gave her up for Slayer training at a very early age after she was identified as a Potential Slayer; she did not even know her own surname as she studied under her Watcher, Sam Zabuto, but the name remained in Watcher records. Zabuto was very strict with his charge, forbidding her from enjoying a social or romantic life, which he taught her would distract her from her duties as the Slayer. Kendra became fully versed in the Slayer Handbook and fighting techniques, and owned a trusty stake which she named Mr. Pointy. After a lifetime of preparation, she was called in 1997 when Buffy Summers died at the hands of the Master; though Buffy's friend Xander Harris managed to revive her through CPR, her death nevertheless activated a second Slayer, causing two to co-exist for the first time.
In her first year as the Slayer, Zabuto sent Kendra to Sunnydale when signs indicated that a very dark power was about to rise there. Kendra arrived to Sunnydale via an airplane cargo hold and beat up one of the workers on the way. Arriving at the ice-skating rink, she then saw the benevolent vampire Angel kissing Buffy, and mistakenly assumed that Buffy was also a vampire — the first of many quick conclusions she would draw. Kendra fought Angel and locked him into a cage, leaving him to the sun. She then moved on to Buffy and attacked her at Angel's apartment where she was sleeping. After a brief battle, they discovered that they were both Slayers.[2] Buffy's Watcher Rupert Giles told them that two Slayers existing at the same time was unprecedented and suggested they work together. Kendra's social isolation and dedication to discipline and technique in pursuing her calling contrasted sharply with Buffy's independence; Buffy believed that her emotions and friendships made her a better Slayer. The two girls initially shared an antagonistic relationship, but eventually began to empathise with each other's lifestyle, with Kendra helping Buffy to realize that being the Slayer was not simply a burden, but part of who she was. Buffy's friends, the "Scooby Gang," learned that the dark power Zabuto detected was the vampire Drusilla, whose boyfriend Spike was planning to sacrifice Angel in order to restore Drusilla's strength. Despite her reservations about saving a vampire, Kendra aided Buffy in the rescue of Angel from Spike and Drusilla. Kendra then departed Buffy on friendly yet conditional terms (not willing to hug her goodbye), now using a plane ticket, taking a taxi and wearing one of Buffy's shirts as she ripped her own while fighting Patrice.
Kendra returned in 1998 when her Watcher informed her that the demon Acathla would open its mouth and suck the world into hell. By that point, Angel had lost his soul and reverted to the infamous Angelus, and was the one who had activated Acathla alongside Spike and Drusilla. Zabuto gave Kendra a special sword, which Kendra passed on to Buffy after surprising her as she patrolled. Kendra helped the Scooby Gang protect Willow Rosenberg as she performed the Ritual of Restoration to return Angel's soul. Drusilla and her vampire lackeys arrived in the library to stop the attempt to bring back Angel and after a brief fight, Drusilla hypnotized Kendra and slit her throat, killing her. At the very moment that Kendra lost her life, her successor Faith Lehane was called as a Slayer in Boston.
As Buffy was found next to Kendra's body, she became a
suspect for murder and expelled from Sunnydale High; later, Buffy had been
cleared of all charges by eyewitness reports, but Principal Snyder, who despised
Buffy with a passion, initially refused to allow Buffy to return to Sunnydale
High, citing her poor grades, spotty attendance record, and "tingling
pleasure" that he was finally rid of her; however, he was eventually forced to do so
thanks to the intervention of the school board, as well as physical
and professional threats from Rupert Giles. Buffy was devastated by Kendra's
death. She kept Kendra's favorite stake, Mr. Pointy, and also had it bronzed.
Due to her upbringing, Kendra acted very shyly around men, not even being able to look Buffy's friend, Xander Harris, in the eye. She also had an initial distrust of all vampires, wanting to let Angel die even though he had a soul and had turned to the side of good.
Ethan Rayne (Robin Sachs)
Little is known about Ethan's early years, although his accent suggests he is English. The first time he appears is in the episode "Halloween", when he reveals his dark nature. More information is revealed in the second season episode "The Dark Age". In the early 1970s, Ethan met and became friends with Rupert Giles, then known as "Ripper." Giles had dropped out of Oxford University and traveled to London to seek out the worst crowd that would have him. Associating with the dregs of the supernatural subculture that exist in the Buffyverse, he was in a phase later described by Xander Harris as an "electric Kool-Aid funky Satan groove."
The group practiced small magics for pleasure and gain, until Ethan and Ripper discovered something bigger: the demon known as Eyghon, or the Sleepwalker. Tattooing themselves with the Mark of Eyghon, they would take turns falling asleep, and the rest of the group would summon the demon into the sleeper. According to Giles, it was an extraordinary high, a euphoric feeling of power, but was also incredibly risky. When Eyghon took control of Randall, one of their group, the others tried to exorcise the demon, resulting in Randall's death. Giles was changed by the event, leaving London and returning to the Watchers' Council. Ethan, on the other hand, went in the opposite direction, delving deeper into the black arts. When Ethan asked, years later, why they had stopped being friends Giles replied, "When you started to worship chaos."
Ethan was first introduced in the second season episode "Halloween" as the seemingly benevolent owner of a costume shop. His worship of chaos served as a convenient plot excuse for random supernatural occurrences. Becoming a magical subcontractor and making deals with demons, vampires, and humans alike in his varied jobs, Ethan gained a reputation for getting the job done. He has performed magic without apparent financial reward, but simply for the amusement of chaos.
Opening a small costume shop in Sunnydale's business district around October 1997, Ethan curses his costumes in the name of the Roman god Janus, so that thewearer becomes whatever they are dressed as. For example, once the spell is cast, Xander Harris becomes a soldier, Buffy Summers becomes an 18th century noblewoman, and Willow Rosenberg becomes an actual ghost. Upon discovering that Ethan is responsible, Giles describes the spell as "sick, brutal, and it harms the innocent", and proceeds to beat Ethan until he reveals how to break the spell.
Later, in the episode "The Dark Age", Ethan comes looking for Giles in the Sunnydale High School library. He has been having dreams of Eyghon, and the fate of the others who wear "the Mark." Ethan knows that somehow the demon has returned again and is roaming free upon the world. The Mark of Eyghon on the original group members acts as a beacon for the demon to locate them, kill them, and possess each corpse in turn to hunt his next victim with. Ethan plans to 'hide behind the Slayer', exploiting her desire to protect Giles and thus protect Ethan in the process. Knocking Buffy unconscious, he waits for her to wake up before tattooing the Mark of Eyghon on the back of her neck and removing his own Mark with acid. The substitution works, and the demon loses interest in him, instead going after Buffy. But Giles arrives, and then her friends, who stop Eyghon from killing both of them.
In the Season Three episode "Band Candy", the vampire Mr. Trick, in the employ of Mayor Richard Wilkins, calls on Ethan's services when he needs Sunnydale's adult population distracted during a tribute ceremony for the demon Lurconis. Ethan curses candy bars that are distributed to adults through Sunnydale High School students. The curse on the chocolate makes adults act as if they are teenagers, leaving many areas of the city unprotected, including the hospital where the tribute of small babies needs to be taken from. Buffy and Giles uncover the plot, and stop Mr. Trick and Ethan (who claims ignorance of the nature of the tribute), but they both escape.
In the fourth season, Ethan returns to Sunnydale in the episode "A New Man". Discovered lurking in a crypt by Giles, he talks him out of a promised beating, and instead, they go for a drink together. Ethan warns Giles that the Initiative is throwing the worlds out of balance, which goes "way beyond chaos", into "one hell of a fight." Giles doesn't seem to take the warning seriously, instead being somewhat envious of the Initiative. After spending the night reminiscing and drinking with Ethan, Giles wakes the next morning in the form of a Fyarl demon. After being forced to reverse the spell, Ethan is arrested by the Initiative, who apparently place him in military custody pending determination of his status, before sending him to a rehabilitation facility in Nevada.
Ethan's years of experience in the world of the supernatural made him a skilled sorcerer and chaos magician, adept at performing curses and transmogrification. He also had great knowledge of demonology and black magic as well as possessing fluency in Latin. The Mark of Eyghon granted him a psychic link of sorts to the demon, and gave him visions when the demon was in close proximity. He also claims to have "missed [his] calling as an artist" after tattooing Buffy with the Mark of Eyghon.
However, his fighting skills are mediocre, as Giles repeatedly beats him up with little-to-no effort; whenever Giles does this, Ethan doesn't even try to fight back.
Notable villains
The following characters are commonly referred to within the show as Big Bads. There are, on occasion, multiple Big Bads in a season. The season 6 documentaries often refer to not only Dark Willow as the season's Big Bad, but life itself.
Season 1 – The Master
Season 2 – Spike, Drusilla, Angelus
Season 3 – Mayor Wilkins, Mr. Trick, Faith
Season 4 – Professor Maggie Walsh, Adam
Season 5 – Glory
Season 6 – The Trio (Warren Mears, Jonathan Levinson, Andrew Wells), Dark Willow
Season 7 – The First Evil, Caleb