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Lists that rank everything from Buffy to Firefly and even Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.

If you&#39;re a true <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/details-fans-noticed-buffy-vampire-slayer/erin-maxwell?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">Buffy the Vampire Slayer</a> fan, chances are you know the meaning of &quot;it gave me the wig,&quot; and you&#39;ve likely even incorporated it into your own vocabulary at some point. You can also sing along to all of the songs in &quot;Once More with Feeling,&quot; and know that Anya (a once badass demon) has a strange fear of bunnies. But being a true Buffy fan is more than belting out, &quot;I will walk through the fire,&quot; or knowing how to decode Slayer slang.

You&#39;ve likely noticed things from re-watching the show over the years that the average viewer missed, stumbling upon rewarding&nbsp;Easter eggs, a connection you just now made, or even the occasional baffling element, or <a href="/list/things-angel-fans-have-noticed/jacob-shelton" target="_blank">Angel crossover</a>. But despite a few plot holes or completely nonsensical elements that don&#39;t add up, you will always love the show to pieces. And true Buffy fans know that even though the show never won an Emmy for Best Series (which was an outrageous snub), it will always take gold in our hearts.

Fan Theories

It's been a number of years since the final season of Buffy The Vampire Slayer aired, but that hasn't slowed down its legion of fans. Even after all this time, there are still <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/things-buffy-the-vampire-fans-have-noticed/candice-darden">things only true&nbsp;Buffy fans know about</a>.&nbsp;Fans of the Buffyverse are as active as ever, and the discussion never stops. Fan theories, in particular, often dominate&nbsp;the message boards. After all, how can you watch Buffy and not claim <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gISEekxuEgk">you've got a theory</a>? One could lose days&nbsp;delving into the minds of Joss Whedon's biggest supporters.&nbsp;When you&nbsp;come up, you'll have an awful lot to think about.While the buff blonde is the face of the franchise, she's not the focus of most Buffy&nbsp;fan theories. Perhaps, the loyal following is desperate for a cross-over, a spin-off, or even some kind of <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/buffy-fantasy-casting/collin-flatt">Buffy&nbsp;reboot</a>.&nbsp;Surely, Giles could command an audience. Until that glorious day, you'll have to tide yourself over on these fan theories about the Buffyverse to stay five by five.&nbsp;

The Gift

The best Buffy episodes, as ranked by you, Buffy fans. All Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes are listed below and your votes affect the order of the list, which will provide the best ranking of Buffy episodes. With your votes, the best Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes will rise to the top. So have at it, Buffy fans. Which episode was the funniest, the saddest, the most exciting? This list of Buffy episodes has nothing to do with ratings. It's all about which episodes of Joss Whedon's influential series were the best, ranked by fans. Is it &quot;Hush,&quot; &quot;The Body,&quot; &quot;The Zeppo,&quot; or even &quot;Once More With Feeling?&quot; We know you've seen them all, so it's time to rank the best of them. The Buffy episodes are featured below with photos and even episode synopses (if you click on the name of the episode) when available. What are the best Buffy episodes? Take a look here and you'll get that answer.

Feminism

Illyria

Since&nbsp;Age of Ultron opened in theaters, Joss Whedon has been taking it from all sides about his portrayal of Black Widow as a relationship hungry superwoman who just wants a man to put a ring on it and put a baby inside her. We don’t have any way of knowing whether this was a miscalculation by Whedon, or a mishandling of the property by the marketing people at Marvel, but we do know that Whedon has been an OG feminist writer since 1997 when the first season of Buffy premiered. Being such big Whedonites we knew we had to do something, but countless op-eds have already been penned, and an infinite amount of tweets have been tweeted (so much so that Whedon supposedly quit twitter over the kerfuffle). The only thing left to do is assemble a list of the <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/strong-female-characters/anncasano?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">strongest female characters</a> created by Joss Whedon. It seems like yesterday that every nerd was sweating bacon grease in excitement over the release of Age of Ultron. But now, thanks to the fervor over the treatment of Black Widow, we can’t even remember the end credits stinger! Despite his misstep, he’s still one of the few filmmakers in Hollywood who tries to write positive female characters. After being such big fans of King Geek Whedon for so long, it was a drag to see him drop the ball on Natasha Romanoff, but instead of moaning like a bunch of babies we decided to celebrate his contributions to the world of science fiction and fantasy with a list of his strongest female characters.

Best Characters

Wesley Wyndam-Pryce

A lively debate in the Whedon fandom has always been &quot;Who are Joss Whedon's best characters&quot;? Let's use this list as a way to settle that debate, shall we? Give your faves and thumbs up, thumbs down to those you're not as fond of.

How do you properly describe Buffy the Vampire Slayer? On the one hand, it&#39;s a teen horror series about a girl who has supernatural abilities; on the other, it&#39;s an intense exploration of the existential crises of&nbsp;growing up. It&#39;s a cult classic that has&nbsp;touched millions of lives. Buffy&nbsp;and its <a href="/list/shows-and-movies-joss-whedon-hates/jacob-shelton" target="_blank">Joss Whedon</a>-created sister series,&nbsp;Angel,&nbsp;have fans around the world who&#39;ll take a stake to the chest for these shows.

However, many&nbsp;people are unaware of&nbsp;all the internal drama that occurred <a href="/list/things-angel-fans-have-noticed/jacob-shelton" target="_blank">behind the scenes of Angel</a> and Buffy. Not only was there in-fighting, but there were alleged affairs, crew members posting on fan sites, and longtime characters written off&nbsp;on&nbsp;a whim.&nbsp;

It&#39;s hard to make a TV show - let alone seven seasons of a program - with the same people day in and out. During the height of <a href="/list/things-buffy-the-vampire-fans-have-noticed/candice-darden" target="_blank">Buffy</a> and Angel, Whedon and company were making two shows at the same time, and though they were creatively flourishing, everyone was at odds. The following stories prove that you don&#39;t have to be friends with your team members&nbsp;to make great art - and really, you don&#39;t even have to be a good&nbsp;person.&nbsp;

Salvage

Here is the list of the best Angel episodes, as determined by voters like you. Although Angel began as a Buffy the Vampire Slayer spin-off, the show quickly found a unique and powerful voice all its own. With all the amazing episodes of the show that exist, it's hard to trust just one person's opinion of what the top Angel episodes of all time are. Fans of Angel are very passionate about the show, and there are often debates over which episodes are the greatest. That's why this list exists- so you can vote for your favorites and we can find out once and for all what everyone thinks the best episode is.Created by Joss Whedon, Angel stars&nbsp;David Boreanaz as a vampire who changes his sadistic ways when his human soul is restored. Working as a private detective in Los Angeles, Angel and his associates help lost souls find their way again, while occasionally fighting demonic forces.&nbsp;The list you're viewing is made up of a variety of episodes, including &quot;I Will Remember You&quot; and &quot;A Hole in the World&quot;. What is the best Angel episode of all time? Look below and find out.

Season 2

List of the best seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, ranked from best to worst, with DVD cover images when available. Fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer are very passionate about the series, so it's no surprise that arguments are often had over which is the best season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This ranking of all Buffy the Vampire Slayer seasons has been voted on by many fans of the show, so this list isn't just one person's opinion. Some of the greatest episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer come from different seasons, so determining what the best Buffy the Vampire Slayer season is can be challenging.If you're wondering, &quot;What is the best season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer?&quot; and &quot;Which season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer is the best?&quot; then this list will answer your questions.You may want to copy this list to build your own just like it, re-rank it to fit your opinions, then publish it to share with your friends.

<a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-fan-theories/shanell-mouland?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">Buffy the Vampire Slayer</a>, arguably one of the <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/teen-drama-tv-shows-and-series/reference">best teen dramas</a> to ever be produced on television, introduced more than a handful of memorable characters to the world. It also&nbsp;gave Joss Whedon his first taste of legitimate success&nbsp;and was one of the first shows to have a female-driven narrative that wasn’t all about boys. Though the series aired from 1997 to&nbsp;2003, it feels like the costume designs never left the '90s.&nbsp;Some of the lamest Buffy villains&nbsp;reflect that influence to the nth degree. While there are things that only <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/things-buffy-the-vampire-fans-have-noticed/candice-darden">hard-core Buffy fans noticed</a>, most people recognized that Buffy the Vampire Slayer&nbsp;had some dumb-looking bad guys&nbsp;that&nbsp;resembled Rob Zombie video extras. If you don't remember any lame antagonists&nbsp;who ended up on Buffy&nbsp;after failing a GWAR&nbsp;audition, it's&nbsp;time to look back to&nbsp;when the show&nbsp;was running low on creative juices and vote up the villains with the most&nbsp;unoriginal&nbsp;'90s roots that were only possible in that era.&nbsp;

<a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/details-fans-noticed-buffy-vampire-slayer/erin-maxwell?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">Buffy the Vampire Slayer</a> changed television. Not only did it give the world one of the most nuanced female characters in the dark fantasy genre, but it also showed audiences what a bad friend looks like. Xander Harris is the worst. He may be a member of the Scooby Gang, but he&#39;s not the kind of person you want in your corner when the world is being swallowed into hell.&nbsp;

Xander isn&#39;t bad because he&#39;s powerless, or because he has awful fashion sense. He&#39;s the worst part of&nbsp;Buffy because he&#39;s&nbsp;childish, he can be creepy, and he only thinks about himself. Every other character on Buffy&nbsp;goes&nbsp;through several&nbsp;seasons of character development, with narratives&nbsp;riddled with misfortune, but Xander just becomes&nbsp;more disappointing as the series progresses.

If you&#39;re a huge fan of Xander, this doesn&rsquo;t mean you have bad taste, or that you&#39;re watching the show wrong, but there are plenty of reasons why Xander Harris is the worst member of the Scoobies.&nbsp;

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

Without Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly, which are arguably two of the best <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/shows-and-movies-joss-whedon-hates/jacob-shelton?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">Joss Whedon shows</a>, you wouldn’t get amazing series such as Vampire Diaries or Battlestar Galactica. And while he has gone on to direct movies, he still has a hand in TV production. But of all his TV works, which one was his best? To find out, we’re having a Joss Whedon battle royale with all the shows he’s created. Fans like you have voted for their favorite Whedon TV shows, so go ahead and cast your votes below.Over the years, Whedon has created many classic hit shows that fans still rewatch to this day. And while some of them were canceled prematurely, that isn’t a reflection of their quality. For instance, Firefly only had one season, but it’s still considered one of <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/the-best-joe-rogan-podcast-science-guests/ranker-podcast?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">the best science</a> fiction shows of all time. In fact, Fox allowed Whedon to give the show a proper sendoff with the feature length movie Serenity.But is Firefly really as good as Marvel’s Agends of S.H.I.E.L.D.? After all, the latter is still on air after several seasons. Join the discussion and help settle the debate by voting for your favorite Joss Whedon TV shows. If you don’t see your favorite Whedon shows listed, be sure to add it.

Comic Books

There’s no arguing that the Buffyverse is one of the greatest fictional universes ever created. Well, there is arguing, one side is just objectively wrong. When you’ve got a series created by Joss Whedon&nbsp;(and helmed by amazing writers like Jane Espenson&nbsp;and Ben Edlund) you can’t really go wrong. Or can you?Despite the wonderful writing&nbsp;and return of fan favorite characters in the Buffy comic books, there are still some very bad Buffy plotlines. Most of the main story arcs of the Buffyverse EU are peachy keen, but when you begin to dissect the subplots&nbsp;and side quests of your favorite whip smart, vampire fighting heroes, you see that not everything in the world of Buffy the Vampire Slayer is five by five.What happened to Buffy after the show? It turns out that it’s mostly pretty dumb stuff. The concept of magic comes and goes, there’s an evil statue, people are killed only to be brought back a few comics later, and the audience is asked to care about characters that they haven’t thought about in years and will likely never see again.The Buffyverse expanded universe has so much room to play, it makes you wonder why the writers would go off on tangents that make you feel like an idiot for throwing down your three bucks. But the best thing about Buffy is that even when it’s bad, it’s still kind of good.&nbsp;Like sex or pizza.&nbsp;

Buffy Summers took the world&nbsp;by storm when she made her TV debut&nbsp;in 1997. With the help of the Scooby Gang, Buffy rips through demons and vamps, protecting Sunnydale from all the evils that have made their way out of the Hellmouth.Since defeating the biggest of baddies in 2003, fans have wondered what happened to the cast of&nbsp;Buffy the Vampire Slayer.&nbsp;The <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/dumb-things-that-happened-to-buffy-after-the-show-ended/jacob-shelton" target="_blank">Buffy&nbsp;comics series</a>&nbsp;and <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-fan-theories/shanell-mouland" target="_blank">Buffy&nbsp;fan theories</a>&nbsp;provided some answers as to what happened to the characters after thousands of slayers were activated across the world, but what about the cast that brought some of <a href="https://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/top-joss-whedon-characters" target="_blank">Joss Whedon's best characters</a> to life? Here's the&nbsp;sitch for the&nbsp;Buffy the Vampire Slayer&nbsp;cast then and now.

Fictional Places

Ah,&nbsp;Sunnydale,&nbsp;where the weather's always hot because of the town's proximity to the mouth of Hell. This California town from Buffy the Vampire Slayer&nbsp;may be rife with vampires, demons, and werewolves but there are actually a ton of reasons you'd want to&nbsp;live in Sunnydale. Life on the Hellmouth&nbsp;might not be all peaches and cream, but that doesn't mean&nbsp;you shouldn't stake your claim on some prime real estate.&nbsp;Sure, constant invasions at the hands of hell-beasts isn't ideal, but there are so many reasons why Sunnydale is a cool town.&nbsp;For every&nbsp;downside,&nbsp;there are plenty of pros to make you see the sunny side of living in Sunnydale. There's a reason this town is considered&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/best-tv-small-towns/alexandra-plesa">one of the best small towns in televison history</a>. If you're thinking of making the move to <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/things-buffy-the-vampire-fans-have-noticed/candice-darden">Buffy the Vampire Slayer's</a> home town, there are more than enough reasons to convince you.&nbsp;

Easter Eggs

Since <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/details-fans-noticed-buffy-vampire-slayer/erin-maxwell?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">Buffy the Vampire Slayer</a> appeared on The WB in the '90s, Joss Whedon has slowly taken over Hollywood with sci-fi westerns, meta horror films, and two little movies about a ragtag group of super friends called The Avengers. In each one of his films or television shows, he makes sure to include multiple Easter eggs and references to his friends, movies he likes, and even to his other shows. As with everything he does, there are multiple layers to Joss Whedon Easter eggs, and the references on this list are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the Whedonverse Easter eggs that you might have missed. If you’ve only seen The Avengers and haven’t truly been baptized in the church of Whedon, then a lot of the Easter eggs in <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/joss-whedon-shared-universe-theory/hannah-collins?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">Joss Whedon shows</a> are probably going to go over your head. Please read on, but if you have no clue what a Hellmouth is, you’re going to need to go watch every episode of Buffy, then come back and finish the list. Some of these Easter eggs are huge, in your face references, while others are small flashes that even a lot of big fans definitely missed if they weren’t paying attention. So did you recognize any of these Whedonverse Easter eggs? Is there anything that we missed that you think should be included? Even if you didn’t, leave us a comment and let’s talk about how criminally underrated Dollhouse was.

In 1997 a quirky show premiered on the WB called <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/details-fans-noticed-buffy-vampire-slayer/erin-maxwell?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">Buffy the Vampire Slayer</a>. At the time it was just a series based on a horror comedy from 1992 that hardly anyone watched in the theater;&nbsp;however, it quickly turned into a program that changed the way viewers and critics thought about teen shows&nbsp;and television in general. The series had a unique amount of episodes that broke the format of traditional television storytelling, long before other primetime shows were willing to do something different or&nbsp;high-concept.&nbsp;

With nearly 200 episodes under its belt, everyone has their favorites of this Joss Whedon must-see, but what are the <a href="/list/all-144-buffy-episodes-as-ranked-by-fans/tvs-frank" target="_blank">most important episodes of Buffy</a>? Which episodes take the series about the apex final girl&nbsp;and turn things on their head? If you&rsquo;ve never watched the show, these are the episodes of Buffy you cannot miss. They defined the series and changed genre storytelling forever.

Memes

Buffy the Vampire Slayer&nbsp;is one of few shows from the &#39;90s that will never go out of style. The Spuffy vs. Bangel debate is still hotly discussed in online forums, and years after fans first suffered the pain of losing Joyce, Tara, Buffy, and so on, we still feel a pang of sadness when those <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/all-144-buffy-episodes-as-ranked-by-fans/tvs-frank" target="_blank">Buffy episodes</a> are brought up.&nbsp;

Luckily, there is no shortness of Buffy the Vampire Slayer memes to help us survive Joss Whedon&#39;s hellmouth. In fact, these Buffy memes are a great way to relive the show, once more, with feeling.&nbsp;

Rosario Dawson

Twenty years after&nbsp;Buffy Summers began saving the folks of Sunnydale, talks of a <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/all-144-buffy-episodes-as-ranked-by-fans/tvs-frank">Buffy the Vampire Slayer</a> reboot are surfacing to the joys of &#39;90s kids everywhere. Much of the show&#39;s popularity stemmed from the titular blonde badass, played by Sarah Michelle Geller, whose charisma and spunk ended numerous vampires and enamored millions of fans. So, if&nbsp;Buffy rises from the cinematic dead like a bloodsucker from his grave, a<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/who-would-star-in-buffy-today/patrick-thornton" target="_blank"> Buffy fantasy casting is in order</a>.&nbsp;To stand in the slayer&#39;s shoes requires an actress with the proper combination of gumption and girl-next-door.&nbsp;

Actresses&nbsp;like Zo&euml; Kravitz or Chlo&euml; Grace Moretz, who have in the past played strong young characters, fit such a bill perfectly as young women you wouldn&#39;t want to mess with. But maybe you wish to see someone bring a whole new side to Buffy, who people praised for&nbsp;subverting stereotypes about women in the first place.&nbsp;Obviously the stakes get pretty high, and the actress who lands this role will need to run with them, literally. Who could play Buffy in a reboot of Buffy&nbsp;the Vampire Slayer?

Joss Whedon is a busy man. When he’s not directing blockbuster action movies, he's writing emotionally powerful, frequently female-driven TV shows, and creating all kinds of cult-favorite <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-r-rated-sci-fi-horror-movies/reference?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">science fiction and horror</a> franchises. But somehow, Whedon still finds the time to vent about the things that piss him off, either on Twitter or in interviews.Things Joss Whedon hates range from movies without endings to the lack of female diversity in Hollywood. And if you think he doesn’t have a problem with how his own work is perceived, you're about to have a rude awakening. But no matter how harsh they are, Joss Whedon opinions are always entertaining.There is no other Twitter like <a href="https://twitter.com/joss?lang=en">Joss Whedon Twitter</a>:&nbsp;a place where liberal politics and whip-smart opinions about art are delivered with a delicious candy coating of snark. Even if you don’t agree with everything Whedon says, you have to admit that his acid tongue makes criticism a little more fun. Do you want to know if Joss Whedon hates your favorite movie? There's no time like the present to find out.

Joss Whedon is a prolific creator&nbsp;whose writing credits stretch all the way back to 1990&nbsp;when he wrote four episodes of&nbsp;Roseanne. Since then, he&#39;s penned scripts as diverse as&nbsp;Toy Story&nbsp;and&nbsp;Alien: Resurrection, had&nbsp;a successful run on Marvel comics&#39;&nbsp;X-Men&nbsp;and The Runaways,&nbsp;as well as both the 1992&nbsp;Buffy The Vampire Slayer&nbsp;movie and the beloved TV series of the same name. Oh, and he worked on a&nbsp;little side project known as&nbsp;The Avengers.

You&#39;d think such a big body of work encompassing so many different worlds,&nbsp;characters, and mediums would be hard to connect -&nbsp;and&nbsp;you&#39;d be right. But determined fans&nbsp;have found a way to do it anyway. This is largely thanks to the <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/joss-whedon-easter-eggs/jacob-shelton" target="_blank">Easter eggs</a> and repeated motifs&nbsp;in <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-joss-whedon-tv-shows-list/reference" target="_blank">Whedon</a>&#39;s&nbsp;writing&nbsp;- secret organizations&nbsp;manipulating things from the shadows,&nbsp;supernatural apocalypses,&nbsp;sci-fi experimentation gone wrong,&nbsp;and of course&nbsp;a strong female lead to save the day.

Pulling all this together, fans have come up with a proposed timeline&nbsp;that connects&nbsp;Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, The Cabin in the Woods, Firefly,&nbsp;and even&nbsp;Agents of&nbsp;S.H.I.E.L.D.&nbsp;to create <a href="https://www.tor.com/2015/01/21/joss-whedon-shared-universe-theory-potential-slayers/" target="_blank">the&nbsp;Whedonverse&nbsp;theory</a>.

Across the Whedonverse

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Rank the characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. A complete list of fans' favorites to least favorites. Vote now!

The Best to Worst Buffyverse Characters

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Spike

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, including villain, anti-hero and lover. For Marsters, the role as Spike began a career in science fiction television, becoming "the obvious go-to guy for US cult [television]". For creator Whedon, Spike is the "most fully developed" of his characters. The character was 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." However, 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."
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.

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, while Kelly Albanese lent her voice to the character in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight motion comics.
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. The television series shows Buffy carrying out her destiny in a small town built atop a portal to hell, surrounded by a group of friends and family who support her in her mission.

Willow Rosenberg

Willow 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—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.

Rupert Giles

Rupert Giles is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The character is portrayed by Anthony Stewart Head. He serves as Buffy Summers' mentor and surrogate father figure. The character proved popular with viewers, and Head's performance in the role was well received. Following Buffy '​s run, Whedon intended to launch a television spin-off focused on the character, but rights issues prevented the project from developing. Outside of the television series, the character has appeared substantially in Expanded Universe material such as novels, comic books, and short stories.
Giles's primary role in the series is Watcher to Buffy 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.

Cordelia Chase

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.

Anya Jenkins

Anyanka "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.

Faith

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. 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.

Lorne

Krevlornswath of the Deathwok Clan, more commonly called "Lorne" or "The Host", is a fictional character created by David Greenwalt and Joss Whedon for the television series Angel. The character was portrayed by actor Andy Hallett.

Angel

Angel is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon and David Greenwalt for the American fantasy television programs Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off series Angel. He is played by actor David Boreanaz. As introduced in Buffy in 1997, Angel is a love interest for heroine Buffy Summers, a young woman whose destiny as "the Slayer" is to fight the forces of evil, such as vampires and demons. However, their relationship is complicated by the fact that Angel is himself a vampire cursed with remorse and a human soul, which motivates him to assist Buffy in her duties as Slayer. The character's popularity led to the production of the spin-off Angel, which follows the character's struggle towards redemption after moving to Los Angeles. In addition to the two television series, the character appears in the comic book continuations of both series, as well as much other expanded universe literature.
In the character's fictional backstory, Angel—originally known as Liam—was an 18th-century Irishman who after becoming a vampire and assuming the name Angelus became famous as the most sadistic vampire in European history.

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, 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".

Tara Maclay

Tara Maclay is a recurring character created for the action-horror/fantasy television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She was developed by Joss Whedon and portrayed by Amber Benson. 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. Her relationship with Willow is consistently positive, and the first recurring depiction of a lesbian couple on prime time network series television in the United States. 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.

Winifred Burkle

Winifred "Fred" Burkle is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon and introduced by Shawn Ryan and Mere Smith on the television series Angel. The character is portrayed by Amy Acker.

Wesley Wyndam-Pryce 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.

Drusilla

Drusilla, or Dru, 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. Drusilla is introduced alongside her lover Spike in the second season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer to serve as new antagonists to the series' heroine, vampire Slayer Buffy Summers and alongside Darla and Wolfram & Hart as the main antagonist of the second season of Angel. In contrast to the series' previous central villain, the ancient and ceremonious Master, 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, and it is gradually established over the course of Buffy and Angel.

Darla

Darla is a recurring fictional character created by Joss Whedon and played by Julie Benz in the first, second, and fifth seasons of the American supernatural television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The character later appeared in the Buffy spin-off series Angel, making at least one appearance in every season. The character made her last television appearance in 2004, appearing as a special guest star in the fifth and final season of Angel.
Darla is introduced in "Welcome to the Hellmouth", the first episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, in 1997. It is revealed early on that she is a vampire, initially in league with the Master, Buffy Summers' primary antagonist in the first season. Darla's backstory is disclosed in the episode "Angel", where it is revealed that she is Angel's sire and former longtime lover. The character appeared in numerous flashback episodes, until she received a significantly expanded role in Angel. In Angel, she is resurrected by the evil law firm Wolfram & Hart in an attempt to weaken Angel. She later became intertwined in many of the story arcs in the second and third season. Darla becomes pregnant, a unique occurrence for a vampire.

Harmony Kendall

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.

Joyce Summers

Joyce Summers is a fictional character in the action-horror television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. 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.

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Lilah Morgan

Lilah Morgan is a fictional character from the television series Angel, played by Stephanie Romanov. She is first introduced in the episode "The Ring," and appears in the show's first and second seasons. After Lindsey McDonald leaves Los Angeles, Lilah becomes the primary face of Wolfram & Hart, and figures largely into the Season Three and Four story arcs. She guest-stars in more Angel episodes than any other recurring character.

Jenny Calendar

Jenny Calendar is a fictional character in the fantasy television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Played by Robia LaMorte, Jenny is the computer teacher at Sunnydale High School. Unbeknownst to Buffy or anyone else, Jenny Calendar has been sent to Sunnydale to keep an eye on Angel.
In the first two seasons of the series, Jenny Calendar is Rupert 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.

Xander Harris

Alexander Lavelle "Xander" Harris is a fictional character created for the action-horror/fantasy television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. 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 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.
Xander is based in part on Whedon himself, particularly in his high school years; as such, he is often the most geeky as well as witty and verbose of Buffy's characters. The character's overriding arc through the series has been his struggle towards maturity and earning the respect of others. In the canonical comic book continuation of the series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Xander comes to achieve these goals in becoming the tactical leader of a global army of Vampire Slayers alongside Buffy.

Allen Francis Doyle

Allen Francis Doyle is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the cult television series, Angel. The character was portrayed by Glenn Quinn. Doyle is a seer who receives prophetic visions from The Powers That Be, usually of people in peril; though the visions cause him great pain, his demon heritage allows him to manage them without suffering any permanent damage. His half-Brachen demon physiology grants him the ability to shift from normal human to demonic appearance, in which he has heightened sense of smell and superior strength, speed, stamina, and dexterity, the last of which allows him to twist his head around in such a manner as to fake a broken neck. However, Doyle rarely used his Brachen powers, preferring to remain human, thus limiting his usefulness in a fight.

Glory

Glory is a fictional character in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer portrayed by Clare Kramer. Glory is a god from a hell dimension and was the main antagonist of the fifth season.

Lindsey McDonald

Lindsey McDonald is a fictional character from the television series Angel. He debuted in the series' first episode, "City of," and is featured prominently in the story arcs of Seasons 1, 2, and 5. Lindsey is the only character besides Angel himself to appear in both the first and last episodes of Angel. Lindsey is portrayed by Christian Kane.
While primarily an antagonist, Lindsey is shown to be morally ambiguous. Serving as both an enemy and an ally to the Angel Investigations team, he occasionally allied himself with them to stop some of Wolfram & Hart's particularly heinous agendas. There were moments where he could have genuinely switched sides and others where he displayed camaraderie, affection, and, in later episodes, admiration for Angel despite their history. Kane has described the character as being driven by cynicism and ambition: "I still think this cat looks at the glass as being half empty. And so, damn it, I’m going to drink the rest of that water."

Illyria is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television series Angel. The character is portrayed by Amy Acker. She is a regular during the last third of season five. The character is introduced in a story where main character Fred Burkle dies of a mysterious infection, after which her dead body becomes the host of an ancient demon, Illyria, who once ruled the world but now finds she has outlived her kingdom. Subsequent episodes featuring Illyria document her struggle with adapting to the human condition, Fred's memories, and the continuing grief of Fred's friends and loved ones, who make up the central cast of the show.
Though the character only appeared in the final episodes of Angel '​s final season, the character appears heavily in various official and unofficial comic book continuations of the show, including licensed fictional crossover stories where Illyria is the only character from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer television franchise to appear. The character has also been subject to analysis from academics, several of whom frame the story of Fred's death using feminist film theory.


 
 
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