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Sunnydale High

Principals

Snyder

Principal R. Snyder

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/e5220bebf6714969062d86e5497f095b.jpg

"Kids...I don't like 'em."

Portrayed By: Armin Shimerman

"A lot of educators tell students, "Think of your principal as your pal." I say, "Think of me as your judge, jury, and executioner.""

The conservative, paranoid, and authoritarian Principal of Sunnydale High from 1997 to 1999, following the death of Principal Robert Flutie.

In direct contact with the Mayor of Sunnydale, Principal Snyder spent a good deal of his efforts covering up the otherworldly occurrences that took place in the school through contrived and flimsy explanations. Aside from that, Snyder was also keen on maintaining and improving the school's image without any real concern for the students that went there.

Adults Are Useless: And in Snyder's case, they're actively opposing you.
Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Early in Season 3, his reasons for not letting Buffy back into Sunnydale High, even after she was found innocent of Kendra's death, are her poor grades, spotty attendance record, and, above all else, "tingling pleasure" that he didn't have to put up with her anymore.
Asshole Victim: After three seasons of being a dick to Buffy and actively trying to have her expelled, not one crap was given, by the characters or the audience, when Snyder was eaten by the newly-Ascended Mayor Wilkins.
Xander: (to Snyder in a dream sequence) You know, I never got the chance to tell you how glad I was you were eaten by a snake.
Bald of Evil: To the point where he demonstrated deriving pleasure from Buffy in pain, something not even who he worked for would have much appreciated.
Breakout Character: When he was hired to play Snyder, Shimerman was told that each principal would get killed after a handful of episodes as a Running Gag. But it turned out that the creators liked Snyder enough to keep him through the remainder of the high school episodes.
Child Hater: A strict disciplinarian with an avowed hatred for teenagers. He once compared them to locusts, and when questioned on why he chose to be a high school principal, he claimed he had to keep an eye on them as they were "a bunch of hormonal time bombs" that he aimed to guide, especially when it came to discipline, respect and punctuality - which were, essentially, what he viewed as important in life
Day in the Limelight: "Band Candy" was the episode that feature him more than any other, albeit completely out of character. Makes one wonder what happened to him to have messed up him so much.
Deadpan Snarker: His introduction has him snarking an Ironic Echo at the Scoobies about the talent show, and he doesn't stop there. Armin Shimmerman is clearly having a blast.
Dean Bitterman: He hates Buffy so much that when he expels her at one point (because she was framed for murder — he also lied to the cops about it); Giles has to brutalize him and intimidate him into taking her back because he was willing to refuse even orders from the Supreme Court. There is the implication that he isn't actually a teacher. And of course, he is somewhat redeemed by two things: first, the immortal line "Whoaa Summers! You drive like a SPAZZZZ", and telling the Scaled Up Mayor to get the hell off his campus.
Death by Irony: In the episode where he first appears, he talks about how the previous principal got eaten. Guess what happens to him in the Season 3 finale.
Even Evil Has Standards: He seems genuinely freaked out when the Mayor turns and starts devouring students and parents, implying he had no idea what his eventual plan was, and tries, albeit to no avail, to stand up to him.
- While he forces Willow to act as his tutor which he knows will basically mean her doing all of his work, Snyder does make clear that he doesn't like Percy West whom he describes as "spoiled, lazy and selfish" to Percy's face.
Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: He's so venomous and cynical that the idea of a teacher who genuinely wants to help kids learn and grow is baffling to him:
Snyder: You really have faith in those kids, don't you?
Giles: Yes, I do.
Snyder: Weird.
Evil Gloating: He takes the time during the season 2 finale to rub Buffy's expulsion in her face, outright stating that the police are "deeply stupid" and would never find out that Buffy didn't beat up her friends or kill Kendra. Contrary to his expectations, the cops do find out that Buffy was innocent during the Time Skip between seasons 2 and 3.
Fiction Isn't Fair: He's rather over-the-top in his freely-expressed hatred of students and the degree to which he openly and publicly gloats at the prospect of having them expelled. Possibly justified in that the Mayor of Sunnydale is a century-old evil sorcerer actively plotting to transform himself into a giant snake-demon, and the entire town was founded in order to further his evil schemes, so one can only assume that the Sunnydale School Board isn't likely to be very receptive to parental complaints. This is at one point subverted. After Buffy was expelled and Snyder refused to let her back, Giles threatened to make a formal complaint. Snyder tells him to take it to the school board. Giles tells him he was thinking of the state supreme court. Snyder still refuses and only relents after Giles basically threatened to beat the crap out of him... which of course would get Giles fired in real life. Writer's convenience for the win!
Freudian Excuse: It's hinted that he had Mommy Issues. Also, there's this:
Buffy: You never ever got a single date in high school, did you?
Snyder: Your point being?
Hate Sink: Even before the reveal that he's in leagues with the Mayor, Snyder is shown to be a cruel and sadistic man who takes pleasure in making Buffy's life miserable.
Hidden Depths: "Band Candy" reveals that he was a fairly sweet-natured and likable teen. He also reveals that he enjoys practicing Taekwondo in his free time.
Insane Troll Logic: Uses plenty of this to pin trouble on Buffy. At one point, he’s able to turn her stopping a gunman from shooting someone on the school premises into her deserving detention for causing trouble.
Jerkass to One: While he's a Sadist Teacher and Child Hater in general, Snyder focuses quite a bit of his venom on Buffy and the Scooby Gang. He's always fully prepared to believe the worst in Buffy, to the extent that he admits to getting "tingling pleasure" out of messing with her. It's to the extent that in the season 2 finale, when Buffy is believed to be a murder suspect, Snyder, despite full knowledge that she didn't kill anyone, lies to the police and says that Buffy is always behind any trouble.
Judge, Jury, and Executioner: He explicitly refers to himself as this.
Kick the Dog: He goes out of his way as much as he can to be horrible to Buffy, practically salivating with joy at the prospect of keeping her out of school.
Killed Mid-Sentence: Decides to try shouting at the newly ascended Mayor to be quiet. It goes about as well as you'd expect.
"You're on my campus buddy and when I say I want quiet I want-"
Last-Name Basis: We never find out his name though it starts with an "R".
Meaningful Name: Snyder — snide.
Mole in Charge: He's working for the Mayor, acting as a banal antagonist to Buffy and the Scoobies. Snyder is fully aware of the Hellmouth, although he isn't clued into the Mayor's actual plans.
The Napoleon: He's about 5'2, much shorter even than most of the teenage characters, and is a petty, egotistical and all-around unpleasant little tyrant.
Pet the Dog: While he's an absolute dick to the Scooby Gang, he does have respect for Willow's academic achievements and treats her with a bit more respect (relatively speaking) than the rest of them.
Sadist Teacher: He hated Buffy from the minute he saw her and constantly tried to get her expelled, succeeding at the end of season 2 when circumstantial evidence led the police to think Buffy had murdered Kendra and beaten up her friends. After she was cleared of all charges, Snyder still refused to let her back into Sunnydale High simply because he was glad that she was gone, but the school board, along with physical and professional threats from Giles, forced him to change his mind.
Secret-Keeper: He knew about the existence of the Hellmouth all along — and was even charged to keep it a secret from as many people as possible by the Mayor himself. There's some implication he knew about the Slayer and the Scoobies too, which may explain why he was constantly picking on them.
Smug Snake: He's a banal antagonist to the Scoobies, but he's far too pleased with himself. He takes deep satisfaction in victimising Buffy but he himself is just pawn of the Mayor.
Swallowed Whole: By an ascended Mayor.
Tagalong Kid: After regressing to his adolescent self. ("Band Candy")
Tyrant Takes the Helm: After Flutie is killed, Snyder takes control and Sunnydale High becomes an even worse place to send your kids.
Used to Be a Sweet Kid: When transformed back into a teenager ("Band Candy"), he was shown to be a relatively friendly dork and seemingly looked up to the Scoobies. He even liked Oz's cool hair!
"Whoa, Summers, you drive like a spaz!"
Weirdness Censor: Averted. He's fully aware of the Hellmouth and demonic activity and it's even implied that he's aware that Buffy is the Slayer. What he doesn't know is just what Mayor Wilkins is planning, only that his role as principal is to screw over Buffy in particular, a task he greatly relishes.
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: The Mayor promises him a reward for his services. A few hours later, he eats him.

Flutie

Principal Robert Flutie

"When I was your age we cared about the school's reputation and the football team's record, all that stuff! Of course, when I was your age I was surrounded by old guys telling me how much better things were when they were my age."

Portrayed By: Ken Lerner

Buffy: Mr. Flutie...

Mr. Flutie: All the kids here are free to call me Bob.

Buffy: Bob—

Mr. Flutie: But they don't.

The principal of Sunnydale High when Buffy Summers arrived in Sunnydale.

Cruel and Unusual Death: Literally eaten alive by some troublemakers. He's clearly terrified as the Pack surround, torment, and eventually pounce on him and tear him apart alive.
Devoured by the Horde: Flutie is killed and eaten by a group of students possessed by hyena spirits.
Mauve Shirt: This guy wasn't introduced in The Pack; he was in the first four episodes. Thus his death has more impact than previous ones.
Nice Guy: Well-meaning, but bumbling and largely incompetent.
Reasonable Authority Figure: He tries to come down on troublemakers and is willing to give Buffy the benefit of the doubt.
Shoo Out the Clowns: Flutie was the bumbling but well-meaning principal who offered some comedic moments in Buffy's mundane school life during the first six episodes. His brutal and grisly death is the first indication that the series is unafraid to kill off recurring characters and that nobody - even those most removed from and unaware of the supernatural - will be safe.

Wood

Principal Robin Wood

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/416fc571d42ab5f46ccae2a68dbd553a.JPG

"I knew I signed on for something, but, Buffy, I'm just a guy. Granted, a cool and sexy vampire-fighting guy, but still."

Portrayed By: D.B. Woodside & Damani Roberts

"I'm only saying that once you see true evil, it can have some serious afterburn, and then you can't unsee what you saw. Ever."

The principal of the rebuilt Sunnydale High School. He was a freelance vampire hunter, seeking revenge on the vampire that had killed his mother, the Slayer, Nikki Wood.

Badass Bookworm: He's an experience teacher and school principal who is also a skilled vampire hunter. He can grade your papers and kick your ass.
Badass in a Nice Suit: He wears some very nice suits and can kick serious ass when he has to.
Badass Normal: Despite having no extraordinary powers, Wood is a solid badass: he's well-trained, rarely shows fear and is capable of killing multiple vampires with relative ease. He doesn't match up to Buffy, but who does?
Bald of Authority: Both as a former principal and now that he's leading a Slayer squad in Cleveland, the location of a second Hellmouth.
Badass Teacher: A badass school principal and son of a Slayer. Even Buffy is amazed at how capable he is.
Beware the Nice Ones: Wood is one of the coolest and nicest guys you could meet, but there's a great deal of unresolved rage bubbling beneath the surface that is terrifying when released.
Best Served Cold: He's been planning his revenge since 1977.
Birds of a Feather: When he goes on a date with Buffy he reveals that he is the son of a former slayer. Later Faith would sleep with Wood.
The Bus Came Back: In Season 9. Buffy seeks out his advice after finding out she's pregnant.
Brooklyn Rage: He's originally from New York City.
Deadpan Snarker: He can match Buffy and Faith easily in this regard.
Disney Death: In the Series Finale, which he does on purpose to freak Faith out.
Good Counterpart: Could arguably be considered one to Daniel Holtz, one of the Big Bads of Angel season 3. Both lost their families to vampires (the vampires in question are Angel and Spike, respectively) and sought vengeance. Like Holtz, Wood found positively no solace in Spike's ensoulment or remorse and only cared about his revenge. However, Robin eventually managed to let go of his hate and become a trusted friend and ally to the Scooby Gang, whereas Holtz was single-mindedly consumed by his desire for vengeance to his last breath. As to how intentional this might be, check the last names: "holz" (without the "t", but close enough) means "wood" in German.
Has a Type: He definitely seems to have a thing for Slayers.
Heartbroken Badass: His mother's death spurred him on to become an intensely cool badass.
Hot Teacher: Buffy and Faith most certainly think so.
Last-Minute Hookup: With Faith. This is over by Season 8, though they remain friends and allies.
Last-Name Basis: Most of the Scoobies just call him "Wood."
Muggle Born of Mages: His mother was a Slayer. Although he has no powers himself, he's still a damn good fighter.
Nice Guy: Although far from a doormat, Wood is an all-round decent guy who treats others with compassion and consideration.
Put on a Bus: This happens in S8 in an identical way to how many Fanfics do it.
Reasonable Authority Figure: He is about as far removed from Principal Snyder as it is possible to get; understanding, in touch with the students, not remotely condescending and eager to see his students reach their full potential. And he can deal with the trouble-makers very effectively too.
Roaring Rampage of Revenge: In his twenties, he spent all his time trying to hunt down and kill Spike, until realizing that it was hopeless. While he continued killing vampires and demons, hoping he would eventually come across Spike, he did so in a less reckless manner.
Sharp-Dressed Man: While principal of Sunnydale High.
You Killed My Father: To Spike, who killed his mother Nikki.

Teachers

Gregory

Dr. Stephen Gregory

"I gather you had a few problems at your last school?"

Portrayed By: William Monaghan

"Don't be sorry. Be smart. And please don't listen to the Principal or anyone else's negative opinions about you. Let's make 'em eat that permanent record. What do you say?"

A Science teacher at Sunnydale High who taught the Scoobies Biology.

Cool Teacher: He doesn't condescend to Buffy while also making it clear that he thinks she has great untapped potential.
Nice Guy: Gregory was a Stern Teacher, but everyone liked him and Giles considered him a "civilized man" who had no enemies.
Off with His Head!: The She-Mantis eats his head.
Reasonable Authority Figure: He's one of the few teachers who sees great potential in Buffy and gives her firm encouragement.
Red Shirt: Gregory appeared very briefly earlier in Season 1, before being killed in "Teacher's Pet".
Stern Teacher: He doesn't suffer fools or accept excuses from his students, but he wants to see them succeed.

Marin

Coach Carl Marin

"They're gonna be the best. I don't accept anything less."

Portrayed By: Charles Cyphers

Appears In: "Go Fish"

"I'm just lookin' after my boys. They may be out of the game right now, but they're still a team. And a team's gotta eat."

A Sunnydale High P.E teacher and the Swim team Coach.

Asshole Victim: It's hard to say he didn't deserve his fate 100%.
A Father to His Men: What he pretends to be, saying he cares about his boys by feeding them after their transformation. If he gave a damn about them in the first place, he wouldn't have been exposing them to steroids.
Faux Affably Evil: Marin tries to act like a typical hardass but caring coach. He's actually deeply insane.
Hoist by His Own Petard: Buffy escapes the rape attempt and the monsters go for the coach instead.
"Wow...they really love their coach."
Just Desserts: He's eaten by his 'boys'.
Meaningful Name: Karl MARIN. (as in MARINe biologist)
Self-Disposing Villain: While trying to kill Buffy, he falls into the pit he's been keeping his fish monsters in.
Skewed Priorities: The Coach believes it's important to win...even if this means continually exposing teenagers to a steroid gas that transforms them into vicious, mindless beasts.
Buffy: Why?
Marin: What kind of question is that? For the win! To make my team the best they could be! Do you understand we have a shot at the state championship?
Buffy: Do you understand that I don't care? It's over! There's not gonna be any swim team.
Marin: Boy, when they were handing out school spirit, you didn't even stand in line, did you?
Buffy: No. I was in the line for shred of sanity.

Grace

Grace Newman

"I just want you to be able to have some kind of normal life. We can never have that - don't you see?"

Portrayed By: Meredith Salenger, David Boreanaz, Sarah Bibb, Miriam Flynn

Appears In: "I Only Have Eyes For You"

"I'm the one who should be sorry, James. You thought I stopped loving you. But I never did. I loved you with my last breath."

A Sunnydale High History teacher in 1955.

During her time at the school she began an affair with honor roll student James Stanley, but when she attempted to break it off to give him a chance at a normal relationship James lost his temper and shot her, subsequently taking his own life in grief.

Gender Bender: To put an end to James' haunting, she possesses a male, Angelus.
Mirror Character: Her relationship with James is parallel with that between Angel and Buffy, which is made blatant when she possesses Angelus and James possesses Buffy. Grace is a teacher having an affair with an underage student, while Angel is a centuries-old vampire who was tasked with protecting the underage Slayer Buffy. They both betrayed that responsibility for their own selfish needs until they decided to finally be the responsible ones by breaking off with their younger lovers. James ended up accidentally killing Grace when he couldn't stand her rejection, leading him to commit suicide out of regret, while Buffy unwittingly turned Angel into Angelus by having sex with him, much to her remorse. Though he later regained his soul, he eventually came to accept he couldn't have a happy relationship with Buffy and left Sunnydale, and they even use the same lines they used when Grace and James possessed them.
Mrs. Robinson: She embarks on a romance with her student, James.
Remonstrating with a Gun/Railing Kill: How she was killed.
Unequal Pairing: She's a teacher having an affair with an underage student.

Jenny

Jennifer "Jenny" Calendar AKA Janna of the Kalderash

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/42d6363785fac215bb41175b0acf4b9a.jpg

"You know, people are always sending stuff my way. They know the occult's my turf."

Portrayed By: Robia La Morte

"I know our ways are strange to you, but soon you will join us in the twentieth century, with three whole years to spare."

A Computing teacher at Sunnydale High. She was also an ally of the Scooby Gang and the love of Rupert Giles.

She hid from all of them that she was a member of Clan Kalderash sent to watch over Angel, and went by the name Jennifer Calendar.

Belligerent Sexual Tension: With Giles, at first.
"Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: The entire Angelus arc of season 2 could have been avoided if her clan had told her and the Scoobies about the conditions of Angel's curse.
Finding Judas: She lied to them about Angel and the curse, but she didn't mean anything bad to happen.
Forgotten Fallen Friend: Played with. Her demise at Angel's hands is mentioned several times in Seasons 2 and 3, both in Giles' mourning of her and Xander insisting to Buffy that Angelus needs to die for it. After "Amends," when the First assumes Jenny's form, she's never explicitly mentioned again for the rest of the show.
Hidden Depths: She goes from a normal high-school computer teacher/"techno-pagan" to a Romani woman sent to watch over the vampire her people cursed with a soul.
Hippie Teacher: See Giles' Eye Take when he hears about Jenny's nude mud dance at Burning Man.
Hot Gypsy Woman: Though without the associated stereotypes.
- Though it is played with — she has the dark hair, the exotic sensuality (in contrast to Stuffy Brit Giles) and the magical background, and the hot temper in her arguments with Giles.
Hot Teacher: Giles is very attracted to her (and so is Xander a bit). Robia LaMorte is certainly easy on the eyes.
Hot Witch: Actually a techno-pagan, because her powers aren't strong enough to make her a fully-fledged witch.
Locked Out of the Loop: She was only told to keep Buffy and Angel apart; she wasn't informed that Angel's happiness with Buffy would be his Curse Escape Clause until after the damage was already done.
The Lost Lenore: To Giles after her death.
The Mole: Sent to Sunnydale to keep an eye on Angel.
Neck Snap: How Angelus kills her.
Opposites Attract: Her idea of dating spots with Giles are a football game and monster truck rally.
Romani: Real name Janna Kalderash.
Sacrificial Lion: Her death is meant to prove one thing to both the characters and the audience: no one is safe as of this episode, and Angel is not "just a little evil," he's not "grouchy," he's truly evil and Buffy has to do something about it.
Science Wizard: Jenny was a computer science teacher and a magic expert. She and Giles briefly clashed over merging technology with magic.

Other Faculty

Greenliegh

Nurse Ruth Greenliegh

"This has got to stop, Carl. Those poor children."

Portrayed By: Conchata Ferrell

Appears In: "Go Fish"

Coach Marin: Take good care of my boy, Ruthie.

Nurse Greenliegh: I always do.

The Sunnydale High nurse.

Cruel and Unusual Death: Being eaten alive in gruesome fashion by the swim team.
Heel Realization: Comes to see that the experiments she and Coach Marin are doing on the students are wrong after seeing the full effects of the mutations they are undergoing. Unfortunately, Marin remains unconvinced by her pleas.
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: When she tells Coach Marin of her concerns, he gleefully pushes her into a pool with his boys. She's subsequently eaten.

Platt

Stephen Platt

"Look, Buffy, any person — grownup, shrink, pope — any person who claims to be totally sane is either lying or not very bright. I mean, everyone has problems. Everybody has demons, right?"

Portrayed By: Phil Lewis

Appears In: "Beauty and the Beasts"

"We're not gonna be friends. You have friends already, I hope. Friends are a good thing. Mm-hm. They like you, agree with you, tell you what you wanna hear. That's not what you need right now. What you need is a trained, not... too crazy professional who will always give you his honest opinion."

The Sunnydale High guidance counselor.

All Therapists Are Muggles: Unlike other examples of this trope - Platt, despite not knowing the specifics of what happened to Buffy, is able to figure out the basics what happened to her, empathize with her pain and offer good advice. From Debbie's words, he was also able to figure out the basics of her and Pete.
The Confidant: Unwilling to share her secret re Angel with the Scoobies, Buffy goes to confide in Platt as he appears to be quirky enough to listen. Unfortunately Pete has got there first.
Reasonable Authority Figure: An adult who seems to genuinely try to engage with Buffy and get her to open up about what is dwelling on her (specifically about her relationship with Angel).
We Hardly Knew Ye: In just one scene, he seems to actually get through to Buffy and helps her come to an easier mental place after returning to Sunnydale, and Buffy comes away appreciative that there's someone willing to hear her out without harshly judging her. Unfortunately, he's almost immediately killed off by Pete Clarner afterward.

Students

Larry

Larry Blaisdell

"How do you think people are going to look at me once they find out I'm gay?"

Portrayed By: Larry Bagby III

"It's ironic. I mean, all those times I beat the crap out of you, it musta been because I recognized something in you that I didn't want to believe about myself."

A brawny and generally unpleasant Sunnydale High student involved in sports.

Armored Closet Gay: Larry covers up his hidden homosexuality by being an overly macho bully who frequently leers at female students. He even sexually accosts Buffy during gym.
The Bully: Perhaps not to the extent of some others as he's seen occasionally getting along with Oz and Xander prior to taking a level in kindness, but he doesn't hesitate to use his fists on weaker students.
Bury Your Gays: Poor Larry is killed by a transformed Mayor, who swipes him off his feet with his tail. When Larry lands, he breaks his neck.
Jerk Jock: As part of his armored closet; he's a talented football player and a bully to go with it.
Lovable Jock: After he comes out and his subsequent level in kindness, he becomes this.
Straight Gay: There's very little to indicate his sexuality except for his admission.
Took a Level in Badass: He actually steps up when the time comes to do battle with the Mayor, and is a member of La Résistance in the Wishverse.
Took a Level in Kindness: After coming out and making peace with who he is, Larry becomes a much nicer, even sweet guy who is considerate of others.

Cassie

Cassandra "Cassie" Newton

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/7bc15f3683e1c164fb2b59109ffae598.jpg

"Some things, I just know. I don't know how I do, I just do."

Portrayed By: Azura Skye

"Next Friday, I'm gonna die."

A Sunnydale High student with psychic abilities and a friend of Dawn Summers.

Face Death with Dignity: She makes it clear that she doesn't want to die, but has to accept it because You Can't Fight Fate.
Nice Girl: Cassie is soft-spoken, insightful and very sweet.
Not So Stoic: Cassie isn't quite stoic, but she's sweet and mild-mannered and isn't prone to excessive emotion. She does have one memorable outburst, however, that shows how much she's hurting.
"You think I want this? You think I don't care? Believe me, I want to be here, do things. I want to graduate from high school, and I want to go to the stupid winter formal. I have this friend, and it would be fun to go with him. Just to dance and hear lame music to wear a silly dress and laugh and stuff. I'd like to go. There's a lot of stuff I'd like to do. I'd love to ice skate at Rockefeller Center. And I'd love to see my cousins grow up and see how they turn out 'cause they're really mean and I think they're gonna be fat. I'd love to backpack across the country or, I don't know, fall in love...but I won't. I just never will."
Prophecies Are Always Right: She foretells her own death, and it happens.
Your Days Are Numbered: Cassie is doomed to die; she foresees it and knows she can't prevent it.

Joy

Played by: Amanda Wilmhurst

The head cheerleader in the first two seasons, who is a year older than the Scooby Gang.

Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: She may seem stern but fair at times, but she can be very rude and unforgiving toward people trying out, and, in one episode, mocks Buffy as a loser who shouldn't waste cheerleaders' time when Buffy is trying to find Cordelia.
Cruel Cheerleader: She is a cheerleading captain who is bereft of truly nice moments.
Dirty Coward: She is quick to insult Buffy and Amy, but shrinks back in fear when threatened.
Put on a Bus: She graduates sometime after her second and final season one appearance and is succeeded by Cordelia as captain.

Gwen

Gwen Ditchik

Played by: Kristen Winnicki

A Girl Posse member with minor roles in two season 2 episodes.

In-Series Nickname: According to the yearbook, some people call her "Guinevere", "Gee", or "Digger".
Informed Attribute: Gwen is voted as the girl with the “Best Personality” in the Sunnydale High Yearbook, but in the show itself, she shows little independent personality besides striking up a conversation with a foreign exchange student.
Satellite Character: All of her scenes are in relation to Cordelia or Harmony.
Took a Level in Jerkass: In her first appearance, she seems nicer than Cordelia and flirts with a foreign exchange student Cordelia dismisses as a loser. In her second episode, she joins Harmony in mocking and snubbing Cordelia and Xander just for daring to cross clique lines in their dating life.

Aura

Played by: Persia White

A friend of Cordelia.

Dropped After the Pilot: She is a Girl Posse member with a notable moment or two in the pilot but is never seen again afterward in the show, although she warrants the occasional mention or appearance in other media.
Gossipy Hens: She is quick to talk about how Buffy got expelled from her last school.
Undying Loyalty: She is the only one of the minor Cordettes shown keeping in touch with Cordelia after high school, when she calls Angel Investigations in one episode of the spin-off. Cordelia is also deeply concerned for her when she falls victim to a sleeping spell in the Schrödinger's Canon novel Afterimage.

Amber

Amber Grove

Portrayed by: Jeanette Papineau (uncredited)

A girl who is badly injured by a magic spell during a cheerleading audition in the third episode.

Academic Athlete: She is a highly athletic cheerleader, and according to the Sunnydale High Yearbook, she is part of the Science Club.
In-Series Nickname: According to the yearbook, some of her classmates call her "Flygirl" in reference to her cheerleading.
Informed Attribute: In the Sunnydale High Yearbook, she is voted “Best Dressed” despite never being seen wearing anything but her cheerleading uniform during her brief screen time in the show.
Leg Focus: Xander is quite happy watching her do the splits and other leg stretches in preparation for the tryouts.
Pom-Pom Girl: She's a very athletic, well-choreographed and enthusiastic during her cheerleading tryout and supposedly hired a coach to help her get in shape.
Sacrificial Lamb: A nonfatal example. Amber only shows up to get injured to demonstrate the threat posed by the latest Monster of the Week.
The Voiceless: Amber doesn't have a single line of dialogue.

Lishanne

Lishanne Davis

Played by: Nicole Prescott

An aspiring cheerleader and victim of the eponymous villain from "The Witch".

Academic Athlete: She seems to like Dr. Gregory's biology class and the Sunnydale High Yearbook says that in addition to cheerleading, she helps with the yearbook and is in the Science Club, with her being voted the female student who most embodies "Looks and Books".
Attention Whore: Her (possibly joking) yearbook quote is that everyone should get to be in the spotlight, but they should wait for her to get done with it, and one of her fondest yearbook memories is briefly being on MTV.
The Friends Who Never Hang: The Sunnydale High Yearbook says she goes on to become one of the Cordettes, but she is never seen with them in the show itself.
In-Series Nickname: The yearbook reveals that she is sometimes called D-Lish-us or Lisha.
Leg Focus: It isn't in the show itself, but two separate boys in The Sunnydale High Yearbook are apparently referring to her when they say "D, nice legs" as one of their high school memories.
The Quiet One: She has several scenes but only two lines of audible dialogue in her one episode.
Wipe That Smile Off Your Face: Her mouth is removed by magical means, leaving her frantic, although she later recovers.

Blayne

Blayne Moll

Played by: Price Jackson

A Hormone-Addled Teenager who nearly ends up being eaten by a praying mantis-like creature in the fourth episode.

Casanova Wannabe: He flirts with or leers at every attractive woman in his vicinity and brags about having many lovers, but it turns out he's a virgin, to his great embarassment.
Damned by Faint Praise: In the yearbook, Michelle Blake calls him her "favorite mistake" and wishes him luck in the world while adding "you'll need it."
Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: He is condescending toward Xander early on, but shows some concern for him when they are prisoners together, only to try and sacrifice Xander to delay being killed by the Monster of the Week. Later, he earnestly thanks the Scooby Gang for saving his life, but then threatens to have his dad sue them if they tell anyone that the monster went after him because he is a virgin.
Jerk Jock: He is an arrogant and unfriendly football player.

Owen

Owen Thurman

Played by: Christopher Weihl

A poetry-loving boy who Buffy has a crush on in an early episode.

Amicable Exes: Buffy reluctantly dumps him after one date to keep him from getting killed by vampires, but The Sunnydale Yearbook indicates that he still regrets their breakup and misses her two years later but has no hard feelings toward her.
Big Man on Campus: He is a handsome and polite poetry lover who the girls all love, and The Sunnydale Yearbook says that he is also the class president, a member of the tennis team (not one of the sports most associated with the trope, but still a sport), and a skilled Drama Club actor.
Chick Magnet: His handsome appearance and sensitive, intellectual nature make Buffy, Cordelia, and various other girls crush over him. In The Sunnydale Yearbook, he is voted the male embodiment of "Books and Looks".
The Quiet One: Willow says he barely talks to anyone (besides the main cast, eventually) and can privately brood over a book for forty straight minutes (she timed him).
Saw "Star Wars" Twenty-Seven Times: He avidly reads and re-reads Emily Dickinson poems and carries around a book of her works at all times, with it ending up as his Pocket Protector and Security Blanket. In the Sunnydale High Yearbook, he refers to her as "Emily D", and it's mentioned he wrote a well-received story for the literary magazine called "An Ode to Emily Dickinson."
Thrill Seeker: Deconstructed. After being caught up in a dangerous adventure, he is excited by the combination of near-death and romance and wants to keep doing stuff like that. However, Buffy feels that he lacks the skills or sense of caution to keep surviving battles with the undead, causing her to reluctantly Shoo the Dog and dump him with a It's Not You, It's My Enemies speech.

The Pack

Kyle DuFours, Tor Hauer, Heidi Barrie & Rhonda Kelley

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/buffy_pack_bullies.png

"Y'know, I don't understand why you're sitting at our table."

Portrayed By: Eion Bailey, Brian Gross, Jennifer Sky & Michael Mc Raine

Appear In: "The Pack"

"Were you this popular at your old school? Before you got kicked out?"

A group of bullies, plus Xander Harris, who were unwittingly possessed by the spirits of a pack of hyenas.

Affectionate Nickname: The yearbook gives their nicknames as "Hi-Ho" and "Didi" (for Heidi), "24" (Kyle, reference to how "du" is similar to how two is pronounced in some languages and the rest of his surname is "fours"), "Ronnie" (Rhonda), and "Tor-nado and Toro" (for Tor). Kyle is also nicknamed Doofus, but that is more of an Embarrassing Nickname.
All There in the Manual: The Sunnydale High Yearbook reveals Heidi became a vegetarian after the possession ordeal.
Character Development: They are all delinquents during their one appearance in the show, but the Sunnydale High Yearbook mentions that Kyle (who is shopping a novel to New York publishers) and Heidi (who got a writing scholarship) go on to write for the school literary magazine during their senior year. Additionally, they both feel uncomfortable eating meat (Heidi even becomes a vegan) after their hyena transformation period. Rhonda and Heidi also joined the Spanish Club at one point and became interested in Mexican folk dancing, and Heidi joined the Drama Club.
Gang of Bullies: Even before being possessed, Kyle, Tor, Heidi and Rhonda are a group of jerks constantly bullying other students
I'm a Humanitarian: They eat Principal Flutie. They just...freakin' eat him.
Jerkass: Even before they get possessed by hyena spirits, they're a nasty group of malcontents.
Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: The Sunnydale High Yearbook reveals a lot of Hidden Depths and Character Development about them, but ultimately implies that, with the possible exception of Heidi (although she is still apparently friends with the other three), they still have at least some of the same bullying and troublemaking attitudes as before. Their classmates vote Kyle the boy "Most Likely to be Imprisoned", and Rhonda and Tor the winners of the "Teacher's Worst Nightmare" title.
The Quiet One: Heidi is more quiet than her friends, often preferring to stand in the background and chuckle at their bullying out-downs.
Teens Are Monsters: They're already mean before the transformation.
These Hands Have Killed:
- The Sunnydale High Yearbook implies that Heidi feels deep remorse for eating Principal Flutie and Herbert the pig during her were-hyena transformations. She has converted to veganism, and, while she says that she is happy overall, she told the yearbook staff there's a lot of things she'd like to forget about high school, and she acted in a Drama Club production where her "pain seem[ed] all too real" according to a review.
- Kyle's yearbook entry notes that he has a hard time looking at pork the same way as before and that he'd rather not know the complete details of what happened during his blackouts.
What Happened to the Mouse?: There's no word on what happened to them after they're de-hyena'd, and the fact that they have to deal with the memory of eating a living human being. Supplementary material reveals that all four of them survived (and stayed out of jail) to graduate and Heidi became a vegan.

Lance

Lance Lincoln

Played by: Jeff Maynard

A nerdy student and victim of the Pack's bullying.

Alliterative Name: Both of his names begin with Ls.
Butt-Monkey: He spends most of his screentime being subjected to bullying, such as being threatened with being tossed into a hyena pen or being attacked by his own team in gym class.
Deadpan Snarker: In The Xander Years: Volume 2 (which contains a literary retelling of his sole appearance) Lance's inner monologue has a cynical Gallows Humor Deadpan Snarker tone to it as he reflects on his bad situation with bullies (such as thinking "Victim, thy name is Lance"), although he only thinks those quips and never says them out loud.
Hidden Depths: The Sunnydale High Yearbook reveals that he is an enthusiastic School Newspaper Newshound and a Planet of the Apes and Superman fan.
Saw "Star Wars" Twenty-Seven Times: The Xander Years: Volume 2 mentions that he was often bullied for constantly rewatching reruns of Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp when he was younger due to sharing a first name with the protagonist and wanting to be a primatologist.

Dave

David "Dave" Kirby

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/buffy_david_kirby.jpg

"No. This isn't right. None of it is."

Portrayed By: Chad Lindberg

Apppears In: "I Robot, You Jane"

"Yes... I will. I promise."

A Sunnydale High student and one of the prized pupils of Jenny Calendar alongside Fritz Siegel and Willow Rosenberg.

Heel–Face Door-Slam: Refuses to go along with Moloch's order to kill Buffy, as he can't justify murdering an innocent bystander (not even knowing that she's the Slayer). Moloch makes sure punish Dave before he can impede things any further.
Never Suicide: Moloch sends Dave's parents a fake suicide e-mail to deflect any suspicions after Fritz kills him.
You Have Failed Me: Moloch has Fritz kill him because Dave refuses to kill Buffy.

Fritz

Fritz Siegel

"I'm jacked in."

Portrayed By: Jamison Ryan

Apppears In: "I Robot, You Jane"

"The printed page is obsolete. Information isn't bound up anymore, it's an entity. The only reality is virtual. If you're not jacked in, you're not alive."

A Sunnydale High student and one of the star pupils of Jenny Calendar, along Willow Rosenberg and David Kirby, although his enthusiasm for computers bordered on obsession.

Jerkass: Fritz is more quick with a frown than a smile and sourly rants in front of the school librarian about how computers are making the written word obsolete.
Kubrick Stare: He has this often because he's a nut and Moloch's brute.
Madness Mantra: His loonyness can be seen by him repeating "I'm jacked in. I'm jacked in. I'm jacked in."
Neck Snap: At Moloch's hands, or claws, or...hydraulics, whichever.
Self-Harm: Fritz carves an "M" for Moloch into his arm out of devotion/obsession.
Villain with Good Publicity: In the Sunnydale High Yearbook, the yearbook staff seem unaware of his crimes, prominently displaying a quote he made about the yearbook club and calling his loss a huge blow to technological advancement.
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Moloch kills him after he stops being relevant, just to experience what it's like to kill again.

Wendell

Wendell Sears

Played by: Justin Urich

A brainy student and the first victim of the hauntings in "Nightmares".

Boys Like Creepy Critters: He loves spiders, uses Insistent Terminology when people call them insects, and once had a huge collection of them before his brother let them die while pet-sitting. He has nightmares about spiders attacking him for revenge but still loves them and feels their imagined anger to him is justified.
Butt-Monkey: His spiders all died before the show, he is haunted by a paranormal event, and a Noodle Incident in the yearbook mentions that he had a science project that somehow got set on fire once.

Laura

Laura Egler

Played by: J. Robin Miller

A girl who is injured by a nightmare manifestation in the episode "Nightmares".

The Friends Who Never Hang: She never shares a scene with Willow or Amy even though The Sunnydale Yearbook retroactively states that Laura is the president of both the post-season one Computer Club (working alongside Willow) and the Latin Club (where she learns magic chants with Amy, albeit not necessarily for genuine magical reasons).
In-Series Nickname: The yearbook lists "Egghead" as one of her nicknames, although, depending on the context, it could be an Affectionate Nickname, since her surname begins with "Eg", she is involved in intellectual clubs, and a boy who likes her calls her by that name.
Nice Girl: She is polite to Giles and Buffy when they vist her in the hospital and question her about her attack, helpfully answering their questions without being suspicious or hostile about what they want.

Elliot and Lisa

Elliot Terhune and Lisa Campiti

Played by: Chasen Hampton and Natasha Pearce

Two talent show contestants (a tuba player and juggler) who act as witnesses and minor suspects in the episode "Puppet Show"

Academic Athlete: The Sunnydale High Yearbook reveals that Lisa learned French in school well enough to win a prize at an national linguistics competition and is a track star who believes that a fit body makes a fit mind. Lisa is also part of the Science Club.
Affectionate Nickname: The Sunnydale High Yearbook reveals that Lisa is in a relationship with someone who calls her Boo-Boo (or Lissaboo at times) and uses the pet nickname Yogi.
Ambiguously Gay: In the Sunnydale High Yearbook, there is a note in the yearbook from someone called E.T. that seems to be a Public Secret Message to Larry about coming out of the closet, possibly meaning that Elliot is gay and in a relationship with Larry but hasn't told anyone else yet.
Hidden Depths: The yearbook reveals Elliot runs track and cross country.
In-Series Nickname: The yearbook says some people call Elliot "Ness".
Long-Haired Pretty Boy: Elliot is a handsome boy with shoulder length hair.
Nice Girl: Lisa is sympathetic about a classmate's murder and willing to answer questions for the Scooby Gang. This is apparently amped up even more in her offscreen interactions with other people, as she is voted "Nicest" in the yearbook.

Marcie

Marcie Ross

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ff25beaf8a50f2beff8074e6f75c0416.png

"Hey, moron! I'm invisible!"

^{Click here} to see her when she was visible.

Portrayed By: Clea Duvall

Appears In: "Out of Mind, Out of Sight"

'"I won 'cause you didn't see me coming. Cordelia, you don't remember me. I remember you, all your idiot slut friends, hate them. They take your life and they suck it out of you! But then they didn't see me coming. They gotta learn. They gotta learn."

A Sunnydale High student who became invisible.

Air-Vent Passageway: She lives above the school's music room in a space accessible only by climbing up through the drop ceiling.
All of the Other Reindeer: Poor Marcie was shunned so much she turned invisible.
Batter Up!: Her first victim is beaten with a baseball bat.
Blessed with Suck: The Scoobies- particularly Giles and Xander, albeit for different reasons- initially regarded invisibility as fascinating and cool, until they establish that Marcie didn't choose her current state and can't even turn back.
Freudian Excuse: The reason for her actions and brutality is because literally everyone ignored her to the extend that the Hellmouth turned her invisible. Buffy is initially sympathetic, but upon seeing how crazy Marcie is and how far she's willing to go to get back at those who snubbed her, she drops it.
Buffy: Y'know, I really felt sorry for you. You've suffered. But there's one thing I really didn't factor into all this. You're a thundering loony!
Fully-Embraced Fiend: Marcie not only doesn't freak out at being turned invisible, she loves being able to use her powers to get back at the people she hates. Nor does she mind being basically abducted by two FBI agents to be trained as an invisible assassin. If anything, she likes the idea of becoming a trained killer.
Go Mad from the Isolation: Now here's an interesting example. She was so ignored by her peers that, with some Hellmouth magic, she eventually became literally invisible to them - and it took the Scoobies to even notice she was gone. Being alone in her invisible world only made Marcie that much more unhinged, as Cordelia finds out the hard way.
Insane Equals Violent: Marcie is crazy and is all about using violence to achieve her batshit insane ends.
Invisibility: Her entire schtick. She was such a wallflower, that the Hellmouth turned her gradually invisible.
Invisible Jerkass: Upon becoming invisible, she becomes a violent psychopath who takes violent revenge against everyone who scorned and ignored her.
Jumped at the Call: A rather twisted villainous example. Marcie has no problem at all with the FBI basically abducting her and forcing her to become a trained assassin. She not only accepts being trained as an assassin, she actively embraces it.
Karma Houdini: After having brutally beaten a guy with a bat, asphixiated a teacher, tried to disfigure Cordelia and tried to stab Buffy, she gets rewarded with a training in assassination and infiltration.
Loners Are Freaks: She magically turned invisible from social ostracization and set out to take violent revenge on everyone she deemed responsible.
Monochrome Past: Her flashbacks of her non-interactions with Sunnydale students.
Professional Killer: After being apprehended, she's recruited to be an assassin for the Government.
Sanity Slippage: After disappearing, her sanity disappeared too and she became viciously psychotic.
To the Pain: When she has Cordelia and Buffy tied up, she waxes about how she's going to slice up Cordy's pretty face.
"You should be grateful. People who pass you will remember you for the rest of their lives. Children will dream about you. And all your friends who come to the coronation tonight will take the sight of the May Queen to their graves."
What Happened to the Mouse?: Her training to become an assassin is set up like a Sequel Hook, yet she's never seen or heard from again.
Your Mind Makes It Real: Marcie became invisible because she was so unnoticeable, she was perceived as such by everyone around her.

Mitch

Mitch Fargo

Portrayed By: Ryan Janes Bittle

A boy who dates Cordelia during Marcie Ross’s rampage.

Informed Attribute: He is voted as the Best Dressed boy in the yearbook, but displays little fashion sense during his screen-time.
Jerkass: While very little is known about his personality, his asking Cordelia at the end of the episode if she's really hanging out with "those losers" (i.e. the Scoobies) establishes him as this.
Walking Shirtless Scene: He is attacked and beaten up while changing in a locker room, without his shirt on.

Kevin

Kevin Benedict

"I'll get everything tonight after practice. The guys'll help me."

Portrayed By: Scott Gurney

Appears In: "Prophecy Girl"

Cordelia: You're so sweet! Why're you so sweet?

Kevin: I dunno! 'Cause I'm usually mean as a snake!

A Sunnydale High student. Cordelia Chase dated Kevin, but unlike many of her other relationships, Cordelia and Kevin seemed to genuinely care for each other.

Forgotten Fallen Friend: Despite Cordelia seemingly caring about him, she never mentions him after his death.
Nice Guy: Appeared to have a genuinely kind relationship with Cordelia.
Peek-a-Boo Corpse: Cordelia opens the door to the A/V room only to have his corpse fall out.
Red Shirt: He exists largely to die, and has little in the way of character. Cordelia seemed to care rather deeply for him, though.
Say My Name: Cordelia shouts his name in shock and sadness when she finds his dead body.

Chris

Chris Epps

Portrayed By: Angelo Spirizzi

One of the smartest kids at the school, who has a Dark Secret; namely that he's resurrected his dead brother.

Always Someone Better: Chris always beats Willow in science fairs and they good-naturedly joke about it, although Willow would like to win.
Big Brother Worship: He deeply looked up to Darryl.
My God, What Have I Done?: He's deeply disturbed by his actions in the end and wishes he'd let Daryl stay dead.
In-Series Nickname: The yearbook says some people call him "Crisco".
Now, Let Me Carry You: Daryl always protected Chris from bullies, so Chris desperately used science to resurrect Daryl after his death and is trying to help, comfort and shelter his brother.
Teen Genius: He's just as smart as Willow, if not smarter, and resurrected his brother within days of the accident that killed him.

Eric

Eric Gittelson

Portrayed By: Michael Bacall

Chris's creepy lab partner and fellow Mad Scientist.

Ax-Crazy: He seems happy at the idea of killing someone to make Daryl an undead bride and tries to go through with it even after Chris backs out.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Eric is eager to kill for a Mad Scientist experiment, but according to The Sunnydale Yearbook, he has a close relationship with his grandmother, who pays for a comment in the yearbook talking about how happy she is that he's building a new life for himself after his time in juvie.
In-Series Nickname: The yearbook says some people call him "Skittle".
Karma Houdini: He tried to murder Cordelia and despite a juvie hall sentence got out in time to graduate.
Not Good with Rejection: According to The Cordelia Collection (which is a novelization of "Some Assembly Required" and two other Cordelia-centric episodes), his eagerness to kill Cordelia is less to help the Epps brothers and more to get revenge on the popular girls for never going out with him.
Secret-Keeper: About Daryl's resurrection.

Ben

Benjamin "Ben" Straley

Portrayed by: Ryan Taszreak

A boy who asks Buffy out in "I Only Have Eyes For You".

Informed Ability: The Sunnydale Yearbook says he is part of the swim team, but he isn't seen on the team in "Go Fish" even though that takes place just one episode after his sole appearance. However, he may not have joined the team until after that episode.
Hopeless Suitor: He is a handsome and popular boy who asks Buffy out, but has the misfortune to do so in the aftermath of Angel becoming Angelus, when she is sour on romance and turns him down flat.
One-Steve Limit: He has the same first and last names as a member of the demon family from "Bachelor Party".

Debbie

Debbie Foley

"He does love me. He does love me."

Portrayed By: Danielle Weeks

Appears In: "Beauty and Beasts"

"It... it's not his fault. I mean, he's not himself when he gets like this."

A Sunnydale High student and girlfriend of Pete Clarner.

Broken Bird: Debbie has been broken down completely by Pete's violent abuse of her. He controls every aspect of her life, resulting in Sanity Slippage.
Domestic Abuse: She's a victim of Pete's violent temper.
Madness Mantra: After Buffy's interrogation she just starts muttering, "He does love me".
Sanity Slippage: Pete's abuse of her has horribly damaged her, to the point where Buffy's interrogation of Debbie results in her sitting with her head bowed muttering a Madness Mantra to herself.
Ungrateful Bastard: She knocks aside the tranquilizer rifle as Buffy is about to shoot Pete, who just blames her for bringing the Scoobies down on him.
Your Makeup Is Running: After Pete hits her, she smears her makeup crying. Though the massive shiner draws attention from it.

Holly and Michelle

Holly Charleston and Michelle Blake

Portrayed By: Unknown actress and Tori McPetrie

Two Homecoming Queen candidates who compete with Buffy and Cordelia.

Alliterative Family: The best wishes for the graduates section of the yearbook reveals that Michelle has a relative (likely her mother) who also has a name beginning with M: Mary-Jane.
Asian and Nerdy: Holly is Asian, socially introverted, a straight-A student, on the debate team, and Ivy-league bound (according to the yearbook). She also spends most of her time studying. That being said, she's also fairly dolled up and is good at sports.
Class Princess: Holly and Michelle, are Bit Characters, but seem to qualify. Michelle is a cheerleader and yearbook editor, while Holly is on the drill team and and debate team, and both seem friendly and well-liked
Dark Horse Victory: Buffy and Cordelia dismiss Holly and Michelle as major Homecoming Queen contenders, and the two have perhaps a minute of combined screen time in their episode. However, when two girls tie for the Homecoming Queen Crown, they're Holly and Michelle, and not Buffy and Cordelia.
Dumb Blonde: Downplayed with the blonde Michelle, who "never studies" but is also the yearbook editor.
Feminine Women Can Cook:
- Michelle is both a "popular cheerleader" and a "good cook."
- Holly hands out cookies for her campaign, although it's unclear whether she baked them herself.
Affectionate Nickname: According to the yearbook, Holly is sometimes called "Charlie" or "Hollywood" and many kids refer to Michelle as "Misha" or "Chelle".
Heterosexual Life-Partners: Not in the show itself, but the yearbook shows that they get involved in lots of the same student organizations after becoming joint Homecoming Queens, and they refer to each other as "HQ Sister" and say they will miss each other during their yearbook memories blurbs.
Informed Flaw: The Big Board Buffy made calls Holly an introvert, but also says that she is on the debate squad and drill team, both of which require self-confidence, working as a team, and being in the spotlight (as does campaigning for Himecoming Queen in the first place). Furthermore, she seems outgoing during her campaign for Homecoming Queen and her classmates vote her as "Biggest Flirt" in the Sunnydale High Yearbook. This may be justified by how the board also notes she is a New Transfer Student around the time of the Homecoming Dance, so she could still be shyer than normal around people she is just getting to know.
Making Love in All the Wrong Places: Implied with Michelle in The Yearbook, where one of her memories is "broom closets have more room than I thought."
Nice Girl: Buffy and Cordelia refer to both Holly and Michelle as being nice and friendly. They're also happy and appreciative after they both get elected Homecoming Queen.
Perpetual Smiler: Michelle is always smiling during her brief screen-time, and while she is trying to win votes and excited at being Homecoming Queen respectively in those scenes, she is also voted as being the girl with the “Best Smile” in the Sunnydale High Yearbook.
Single Girl Seeks Most Popular Guy: Michelle is apparently attracted to popular football players.
Cordelia: Michelle Blake: open to all mankind, especially those with a letterman's jacket and a car.
Spear Carrier: Most of the information about them comes from The Big Board Buffy uses for her Homecoming Queen campaign. The two girls themselves only appear briefly and only speak at the very end of the episode.
True Blue Femininity: Michelle seems fairly nice and more relaxed than her opponents while campaigning for Homecoming Queen (although she's only seen campaigning for a few seconds) and wears blue in both of her scenes and the picture on her campaign flyers.

Bobby and Mashad

Robert "Bobby" Stepanopolous and Mashad Bolling

Played by: Uncredited extra

Two students Cordelia briefly flirts with in "Homecoming" who have more revealed about them in the Sunnydale High Yearbook.

Casanova Wannabe: While they do attract some girls, in the Yearbook, Mashad expresses a belief that his classmates Harmony and Lishanne are attracted to him, even though Lishanne has never said this despite having years of opportunities to and Harmony apparently finds him annoying because he pulls her hair.
Dumb Jock: In the yearbook, Mashad (a wrestler and soccer player) mentions his nickname is "potato head", mentions both of Harmony's nicknames while talking about people present at an incident in his past, references a Noodle Incident where he lost track of a soccer ball during a game, and ends his yearbook entry by vainly requesting to start his list of memories over. That being said, he is on the yearbook staff.
Graceful Loser: Mashad provides a partially pragmatic example. His yearbook quote says "It isn't about winning or losing, it's about looking good winning OR losing."
Heavy Sleeper: One of Mashad's yearbook memories is trying to sleep until dinner.
Panty Thief: Both list a "panty raid" as one of their yearbook memories.
The Prankster: One of Bobby's yearbook memories references blowing up something to disrupt a chess team meeting.
Those Two Guys: They appear together in the show and the yearbook suggests they are Heterosexual Life-Partners who get into a lot of mischief together and are known as Butch and Sundance, with Bobby embracing the nicknames while Mashad hates them.
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Their sole scene in the show itself is when they cause Cordelia to be Distracted by the Sexy and forgot to tell Buffy about yearbook photos, causing Buffy to miss her photo and campaign for Homecoming Queen to spite Cordelia, leading to a fair amount of conflict in both their normal and Scooby Gang lives.
The Voiceless: Neither gets any dialogue in their one episode of the show.

John Lee

John Lee Walker

Played by: Nathan Anderson

A football player who Cordelia tries to flirt with to make Xander jealous.

Academic Athlete: The yearbook says that he is in the Computer Club as well as being a football player and wrestler.
Alternate Self: An alternate version of him from the Wishverse appears and is far nicer and more bashful than the original timeline version of him.
Jerk Jock: He tells Cordelia that he'd be fine being intimate with her in private but would never want to be publicly seen with anyone who'd go out with Xander.
Take This Job and Shove It: A sports team variant. In the yearbook, he tells his coach "I quit baby, I'm going to Hollywood."

Michael

Michael Czajak

"My dad. His friends. They're taking people out of their homes. They're talking about a trial down at City Hall. They got Amy."

Portrayed By: Blake Soper

Appears In: "Gingerbread"

Cordelia: Michael is whatever the boy of "witch" is, plus being the poster child for yuck.

A Sunnydale High student and a warlock.

Academic Athlete: Michael is a studious magic studier, but the Sunnydale High Yearbook mentions that he's also a tennis player and member of the Dance Club.
Action Survivor: Managed to escape an attack led by his father and his friends and reached the Scooby Gang to warn them that Willow and Amy were in danger. We don't get to see his escape, but the fact that he's bloody and with a limp suggests it could not have been easy.
Ambiguously Gay: Albeit only due to the "witchcraft = homosexuality" metaphor present in the series.
Chick Magnet: While it is unclear if he returns their attention, the Sunnydale High Yearbook indicates that many girls (although not all of them, given Cordelia's coments about him) find him attractive and he is voted as having the "Best Eyes" out of the boys in his class.
Does This Remind You of Anything?: Going along with the Ambiguously Gay trope, the bullying of Michael by Roy and his cronies can be read as coding for homophobic targeting.
Roy: Everyone knows he's into that voodoo witchcraft. I heard about those kids. People like him...gotta learn a lesson.
Goth: Michael wears dark clothing and makeup, which makes him look a bit like Robert Smith.
In-Series Nickname: According to the yearbook, Michael is sometimes called "Emcee" or "Warlock".
Love Makes You Dumb: In the novel Prime Evil, Michael lets himself get made an Unwitting Pawn of a sinister coven leader because he is desperate for new magic to turn Amy back to normal after her unwilling transformation into a rat (with Willow repeatedly implying that this is because Michael and Amy were a couple, although whether that is true in the show itself is Schrödinger's Canon).
Secret-Keeper: The personal messages section of the yearbook implies that Amy confided in him about her body swapping experience even before Buffy found out about it and/or that he knows about her transformation into a rat, as she thanks Michael for being there for her "when I just wasn't 'myself'".
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: In the Schrödinger's Canon novel Bad Bargain, Michael and his mother unwittingly cause the main conflict of the book. Mrs. Czajak thoughtlessly donates a medallion she finds to the school rummage sale without asking Michael, who uses it for protection against the demons that plague Sunnydale. Desperate fo retrieve his medallion, Michael casts a summoning spell in the school basement, not realizing he is standing near the Hellmouth portal, which weakens whenever magic is cast nearby. This causes everyone in the school to be infected by demonic diseases, and eight people die.

Roy

Roy Dukeshire

Played by: Grant Garrison

A student gripped by anti-magic hysteria in "Gingerbread".

Go-Karting with Bowser: He bullies Michael, but according to the Sunnydale High Yearbook, they are fellow Science Club members.
In-Series Nickname: “Dukes”, according to the yearbook.
Paper Tiger: He is fine with threatening Amy and Michael but slinks away when the famously tough Buffy sticks up for them.

Guy

Guy Matthews

Portrayed by: Nick Cornish

A jock who acts as Cordelia's rebound guy after her breakup with Xander.

Not Good with Rejection: He spends his one scene furious about how Cordelia stood him up for a date that he made in front of his friends and isn't interested in a long-term relationship, shoving her against a tree and pushing Buffy down when she intervenes.
Repeated for Emphasis: In Sunnydale Yearbook, he says wrestling three times when listing the sports and clubs he's involved with.

Lysette

Lysette Torchio

Played by: Whitney Dylan

A girl who briefly dates Xander in the episode "The Zeppo".

The Friends Who Never Hang: Xander is the only main character she interacts with in her sole appearance, but a throwaway line from another episode and the Sunnydale High Yearbook mention that she is one of the Cordettes and a friend of Cordelia and Harmony.
Give Geeks a Chance: Subverted. She is a popular blonde girl who goes on a date with Xander, but solely because she is fascinated by his car, and she mostly ignores Xander himself.
Hidden Depths: The Sunnydale High Yearbook reveals that she is a cheerleader, Dance Club member, and field hockey player (none of which is shown in the series), and is proficent enough that she got voted "Most Athletic" in the yearbook.
In-Series Nickname:According to the yearbook, some people call her "Torch" or "Lissa".
Plastic Bitch: She's fairly self-centered, and Cordelia says she got a nose job and asked to have it resemble the nose of Gwyneth Paltrow.
Proud Beauty: One of her favorite yearbook memories is about how good she looks in a swimsuit.
Screw This, I'm Outta Here: When she's brought to the graveyard to witness a zombie resurrection, she goes from bored and skeptical to screaming and running away as soon as she realizes the ritual is real.
Wrench Wench: She has an encyclopedic knowledge of cars. She's never actually seen working on cars (just admiring them), but the amount of things she knows a lot about makes, models, and engines suggest she has hands-on experience.

Doug

Doug Jeffries

Portrayed By: Unknown actor

An athlete Xander tries to impress in "The Zeppo".

Hidden Depths: According to the Sunnydale High Yearbook, he is shy around girls and plays chess.
Pet the Dog: He lets Xander join in tossing a football around for fun, albeit half heartedly, despite clearly not being friends with him.
Those Two Guys: The yearbook implies he and a student named Jason Kent (who isn't seen in the show, unless he is the kid Doug tosses his football to) are close friends who like passing comment on events, as, in the "memories" sections of their yearbook pages, they use the same words while recalling a shared Leg Focus memory and recall chess moves that they seemingly used against each other.
The Voiceless: He has pronounced facial expressions but no dialogue.

Freddy

Frederick "Freddy" Iverson

"Murder? What murder? You're not here about the review?"

Portrayed By: Keram Malicki-Sánchez

Appears In: "Earshot"

Buffy: Willow, who's that guy?

Willow: That's Freddy Iverson. He writes those editorials for the school paper. He's sardonic.

A Sunnydale High student and editor of the school newspaper.

Caustic Critic: Appears to have this reputation with the Sunnydale student body, as he tends to have a negative response to almost everything he writes about. He even thinks up an insult about over-eager students in the classroom and then makes sure to congratulate himself with a plan to remember the put-down for later. Subverted with his scathing review of Dingoes Ate My Baby, which Oz says is a fair assessment.
Room Full of Crazy: His office is filled with his grim editorials.
Red Herring: He runs and hides when Oz comes over to interview him about whether or not he's the person set on harming the other Sunnydale students. Turns out he was just worried that Oz was going to pay him back for writing a negative review about his band.
School Newspaper News Hound: Willow mentions how depressing the school paper has become since Freddy took over. Oz says that he doesn't notice, as he always skips right ahead to the obits.
Weirdness Censor: The Sunnydale Yearbook heavily implies that Freddy buys all of Snyder's lies about the weird goings-on at Sunnydale, and he even includes an editorial in the yearbook praising Snyder for giving him the mundane "true" stories behind strange events and putting the otherwordly rumors to rest.

Hogan

Hogan Martin

Played by: Justin Doran

A star basketball player and friend of Percy’s.

Be Careful What You Wish For: In the Schrödinger's Canon novel The Deathless, he and Percy joke about how little Hogan likes his Chevy and how he will be glad to see the back of it one day and get a different car. After the Chevy disappears due to the Villain of the Week, Hogan is terrified about how his dad (who just finished making the payments) will react.
Competition Freak: His yearbook quote is "Winning isn't everything ... okay, so I'm lying."
In-Series Nickname: The yearbook says some people call him "Hoagie".
Lovable Jock: He is a good-natured star basketball player who is polite to Xander and Willow when Xander is shocked that Hogan even knows his name.
Shell-Shocked Veteran: According to the interquel comic The Haunted, he has difficulty living a normal life and feeling safe in the months after the graduation ceremony battle.

Nancy

Nancy Doyle

Played by: Lauren Roman

A girl who is in Buffy's literature class and becomes jealous of her in the episode "Earshot''.

Academic Alpha Bitch: She knows all of the answers to Shakespeare questions and is mad at how Buffy keeps answering them before her (due to temporarily having the power to read Nancy's mind).
Academic Athlete: Possibly. She is a well-read girl, and after watching Buffy doing some tricky Roofhopping, her only reaction is to say "I could have done that". However, it's unclear if this is true or is mere wishful thinking.
One-Steve Limit: She has the same surname as another season 3 character, a member of La Résistance who appears in the Bad Future episode. However, they have different performers, and there is no suggestion that they are the same character.

Tucker

Tucker Wells

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d13826bdebcbeeee024e0d5718575ff4.jpg

"Gotta have a redundancy system. Any incompetent knows that."

Portrayed By: Brad Kane

Appears In: "The Prom"

"My three fiercest babies are on their way to the dance right now. You think formal-wear makes them crazy? Wait 'til they see the mirror ball."

A Sunnydale High student and the older brother of Andrew Wells.

Disproportionate Retribution: Buffy asks him what kind of sicko would want to ruin the happiest night of a senior's life. Tucker glowers and says he has his reasons. Cue a Flashback Cut of Tucker asking a girl to the prom, and her flatly saying, "No."
Foreshadowing: His very existence is one. His brother Andrew will go on to become a pretty major character.
Improvised Weapon: When confronted, he tries to break a vase over Buffy's head, but she deftly ignores his attack. Undaunted, he then grabs a screwdriver and holds it in front of him like a switchblade. Buffy easily disarms him, then uses the extension cord from the shattered lamp to tie his hands. Later, Buffy snatches a red curtain from outside the gym and tackles one of the hellhounds, immobilizing it for a minute.
In with the In Crowd In the Alternate Universe novel Big Bad, where monsters openly rule Sunnydale (now renamed Demondale), Tucker has become a vampire. He wears a The Lost Boys inspired wardrobe, calls himself Rowan the Merciless, condescending calls all humans "blood bags," has made no attempt to contact his human brother in over a year, and is embarrassed when Jonathan tries to greet him by his old name.
Loners Are Freaks: Tucker is accurately described as a maladjust.
No-Sell: He smashes a vase over Buffy's head. For a girl who has to bench 400 pounds so she can fight vampires and demons a dinky little thing like that works as well as you might think.
You Are Too Late: Buffy closes in on him, restraining him against a wall while belittling his evil plan. "Lucky for me you're an incompetent maladjust." She prepares to lock him in the other room, but upon opening the door, she sees three empty cages with TV screens in front of them. Tucker grins evilly. Uh oh.
Tucker: Gotta have a redundancy system. Any "incompetent" knows that.

Jack

John "Jack" Mayhew

Portrayed by: Damien Eckhardt

The student who is voted Class Clown over Xander in "The Prom".

Class Clown: His classmates bestow this title on him and he wears a balloon hat and polka dot vest to prom. In the Sunnydale Yearbook, he quotes the Seinfeld line "Not that there's anything wrong with that" while commenting on Larry coming out of the closet and observing that Larry doesn't fit the typical gay cliches of the time.
In-Series Nickname: "Jack", "Animal", and "Chewbacca" are all nicknames of his, according to the yearbook.

Lisa

'Played By: Ra'ven Larrymore Kelly

One of Dawn's classmates.

Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: She's never seen after The Body.
The Confidant: Acts as Dawn's sounding board and tries to talk her through what happened to Joyce.

Janice

Janice Penshaw

Played By: Amber Tamblyn

Another friend of Dawn, who has some run-ins with vampires with her on Halloween.

Bratty Teenage Daughter: While nice enough around Dawn, she lies to get out after curfew and calls her mother "the mominator".
The Ghost: While she does have one appearance, for the most part she's just mentioned.
Smarter Than They Look: Janice has trepidations about breaking the pumpkin of a sinister old man, not to mention following him inside when they get caught.
Valley Girl: Her speech slips into this at times.

Kit and Carlos

Kit Holborn and Carlos Trejo

Portrayed By: Alexandra Breckenridge and David Zepada

Classmates of Dawn at the start of season 7.

Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: While it was implied they might have a bigger role in the season with Dawn, both disappear after the premire, aside from a brief phone call between Kit and Dawn.
Delinquent: Carlos smokes and both have thick disciplinary records.
Sunnydale Syndrome: Kit is in denial upon seeing a zombie.

R.J.

R.J. Brooks

" It's not like I meant to hurt anyone."

Portrayed By: Thad Luckenbill

Appears In: "Him"

"I just — get along really well with girls."

A Sunnydale High student and the younger brother of Lance Brooks.

Big Brother Bully: His brother, Lance, has shades of this. He's certainly not a pleasant individual and didn't approve of his brother having geeky interests when he was younger.
Lance: I gotta tell ya, there was a time I was worried about R.J. He was into comic books, Model U.N., geek stuff. No offense, Harris. One time, I found all this poetry under his bed. Turns out, he wrote it."''
Brainless Beauty: R.J. doesn't have much going on upstairs.
Hidden Depths: When he was younger, he was more like Xander and actually wrote poetry. Probably not good poetry, but still.
Hot for Teacher: It doesn't bother him at all that Buffy is "like a teacher". In fact, he seems pretty into it.
Love at First Sight: Due to the magical jacket's influence, everyone falls in love instantly.
Sexy Man, Instant Harem: The magical jacket he wears causes women to fall hard for him. While wearing it, he captures the attention of Dawn, Buffy, Anya and Willow.
Slow Motion: How women see him when he puts on the jacket.

Novel-Exclusive Students

Heidi

Heidi Lindstrom

A Sunnydale High punk girl and target of the villains in Here Be Monsters

Boots of Toughness: Her wardrobe includes boots that are good for "stepping on anyone who got her in her way", but are less than ideal for running.
Defiant to the End: Double subverted. When she's cornered by vampire pursuers, she is prepared to punch them and curse them, but ends up terrified and saying "please don't kill me." However, after being dragged back to their lair and experiencing more of their sadism, she harshly insults their family portraits even while knowing it will get her killed right away.
Delinquent Hair: She is a delinquent with hair that sticks straight up.
Freudian Excuse: She isn't a villain but is a sour Delinquent, something which traces back to how her mother has spent Heidi's whole life expecting her to act like a perfect loving TV sitcom daughter without giving her much love in return. She only pays attention to Heidi's flaws and has been calling her a poor excuse for a daughter since Heidi was in early elementary school.
Hell-Bent for Leather: She is a tough, provocative punk girl who wears a leather bomber jacket with silver-studded shoulder pads.
One-Steve Limit: She shares her given name with a member of The Pack from the eponymous episode.
Pursued Protagonist: Here Be Monsters begins with her running from vampires until she is too exhausted to run any further. They tell her that she lasted ten blocks more than they'd expected her to and then drag her home for their mother to taunt and kill.

Suz

Suz Tompkins

Heidi Lindstrom's best friend and the leader of their group, who seeks Buffy's help.

Delinquent: She is a pierced, leather-wearing troublemaker, although her reputation is worse than her actions.
Hell-Bent for Leather: Buffy describes her as "dressed to intimidate" and wearing enough leather to outrage any PETA member. She has a delinquent reputation, goes along to spy on the adventure to avenge her friends, and ultimately stakes the Big Bad of the book.
You Have to Believe Me!: She is distraught, desperate, and not expecting to be believed when she appeals to Buffy to help her find out who is targetting her friends, although Buffy does believe her.

The Hahn Twins

David and Stephanie Hahn

A pair of geeky outcasts caught up in the events of Carnival of Souls.

Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Implied. Despite their small, thin statures, they knock over a chain link fence that they slam into while running away from vampires.
Pursued Protagonist: Early in the first chapter after the prologue, Buffy (who is on patrol) sees them running through a cemetery, being chased by vampires. They alternate between showing some strategy and behaving in a panicked fashion, but Buffy does kill their pursuers, only for the three teenagers to blunder into a sinister carnival whose proprietor covertly curses the twins as part of a soul-stealing gambit that they barely survive.
She Cleans Up Nicely: Played with. Buffy comments on their poor grooming and clothing choice in their first scene, but they look more ridiculous than truly appealing when they do clean up and wear clothes designed for sex appeal.
Small Name, Big Ego: Invoked. Being cursed with vanity makes David temporarily act like a Casanova Wannabe and Stephanie act someone who can challenge Cordelia for the position of queen bee, to the bewilderment of everyone around them.

Carl

Carl Palmer

A student and part-time librarian in Carnival of Souls.

Big Brother Instinct: He spends all of his scenes before he is brainwashed by the carnival distributing missing person flyers for his sister (who, unknown to him, was turned into a vampire and later staked).
Disappeared Dad: His father left the family to move to Texas.
My God, What Have I Done?: He is brainwashed into robbing and killing his mother and has enough memories of this that even after being freed, he is last mentioned as being resistant to Giles’ efforts to exonerate him.

Amanda

Amanda Singer

A Girl Posse crony of Cordelia who only appears in the novel Return to Chaos.

Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak: She is a gossipy fashionista who Cordelia calls the "least sinister" person she knows, but she also plays lacrosse.
Lovable Alpha Bitch: She is a snobby Girl Posse member who freely admits to not understanding the Scooby Gang (save Cordelia), but she makes an effort to be civil around them for Cordelia's sake and introduces some visiting relatives (secret monster hunters) whom she doesn't get along with to Buffy and her friends due to correctly guessing they will get along.

Dallas

Dallas Mayhew

A football player who has the misfortune of becoming a Sacrificial Lamb in The Gatekeeper: Ghost Roads.

Jerk Jock: He is a football player who is an underage drinker who abandons his friend during a monster attack and doesn't fully appreciate a lot of the sacrifices that his parents (a mother with MS and a father working multiple jobs) make for him and his brother. However, he is capable of recognizing, regretting, and apologizing for his worst behavior.
Small Town Boredom: He has yet to witness a supernatural occurrence before being attacked by the Flying Dutchman and considers Sunnydale a boring town where nothing happens and he has no reason to stay in any longer than necessary.
We Hardly Knew Ye: He is dead within four pages of being introduced.

Allison

Allison Gianakous

A Greek-American student and long-suffering daughter and waitress of a bumbling restauranteur. She has a notable role in the novel Power of Persuasion.

Beautiful All Along: Allison doesn't consider herself pretty, and her classmates share that opinion, but under the influence of the book's villains, she slowly gets more fashionable and ultimately wins a beauty contest.
Butt-Monkey: Her dad lets her brother do whatever he wants, but won't let her go out on her own and makes her spend her free time helping him with his restaurant even though it is (initially) a pipe dream.
Family Theme Naming: She and her brother Alexander both have "Al" names.
Height Angst: She is awkward about how gangly she is until it inspires her to try out for the basketball team.
Supreme Chef: Her previously undiscovered cooking skills win her the talent portion of a beauty contest and help her father's restaurant turn around.
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Her half-serious prayer to the Greek gods to help her improve her life summons some sinsiter deities to Sunnydale.

Shugra's Coven

Kari Stark, Rebecca Sullivan, Alicia Kim, Winston Haversham, Lindsey Wayne, Janice MacDonald, Joanna Emidy, Craig Robert, Greta Conor, and one unnamed student

Appearing I the novel Prime Evil, they are a group of Sunnydale students who (along with established canon characters Anya and Michael Czajak) are enticed into joining a magickal coven by a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing new teacher in the novel Prime Evil who falsely promises to give them the ability to achieve their hearts' desires while taking control of their bodies.

Brainless Beauty: Joanna is a "gorgeous cheerleader who had never achieved a grade above a C in anything except Phys. Ed." However, she is aware of her low intelligence, and part of her reason for joining the coven is that she wants to use magic to make herself smarter (the other reason is that she wants to work out and maintain her figure without ever getting sore muscles).
Evil Brit: Evil may be a strong word, but Foreign Exchange Student Winston Haversham is one of the only unmoved members of the group while watching Shugra injure the heroes.
Heterosexual Life-Partners: Kari and Rebecca have been best friends since fourth grade, and Rebecca cries when Kari seemingly ends their friendship, with Kari (who did so under Shugra's orders) later admitting that she felt bad ditching Rebecca and is delighted at getting the chance to welcome her into the coven, after which they are constantly seen together.
Noodle Incident: Janice, the last member of the group to join, wants to become part of the coven because she thinks it will provide the means to get revenge against Harmony Kendall over a past grievance, but the specifics are never given.
Parents in Distress: Alicia Kim's motivation to join the coven is to use magic to cure her father's cancer.
Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: They are a mixture of geeks, punks, popular kids, and ordinary students who are drawn together by either the promise of gaining wishes, a desire to buck authority, or just a desire for acceptance and popularity that the other members can offer.
Spear Carrier: Emmanuel, Greta, Craig, and the unnamed student are all only mentioned a handful of times. They fill the necessary spots for the coven to have thirteen members but have no dialogue and little personality.
Screw This, I'm Outta Here: They eventually flee as the final battle progresses.
Unwitting Pawn: None of them understand that they are being groomed as slaves for Shugra or that by giving her the power of a full coven near the Hellmouth, they could destroy the world. In fairness, they lose a lot of control over their thoughts and actions due to the magical initiation brands Shugra gives them.

Lesley

Lesley Anton

A student who appears in The Deathless, being affected by the villain's plot along with various main and recurring characters.

Ambiguously Gay: She mentions moving into an apartment for college with "two girlfriends", but she could just mean female friends.
Bit Character: She only has two short scenes to provide a Canon Foreigner perspective to a couple of montages of odd events, has few lines, and never interacts with any of the regular characters.
Does Not Like Spam: Her mother makes her have Cheerios with one percent milk for breakfast every morning and she compares the meal to cardboard and rancid rainwater.
Screw This, I'm Outta Here: She is eager to move away from Sunnydale once she finishes high school. Being caught up in a strange supernatural occurrence which makes her lose a day causes her to consider skipping graduation and leaving town right away.

Jia Li

Jia Li Rong

A Chinese-American immigrant and friend of Willow in the novel Revenant.

Middle Child Syndrome: She seems to be overlooked by her parents and has a troubled older brother and three younger siblings she often babysits.
Odd Friendship: She has no belief in magic or the supernatural but is close friends with Willow, who, unknownst to her, is a witch.

Sam

Sam Devol

A football player who appears in the novel Heat.

Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He is an entitled and cowardly athlete, but he is appalled by how his coach is tricking people into kidnapping and murdering innocents.
Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After realizing that he's been tricked into joining a Cult which follows a policy of Resignations Not Accepted, Sam spends most of his (usually brief) scenes in the second half of the book trying to flee Sunnydale.

Roxanne

Roxanne Ruani

A troubled classmate of Dawn's and would-be Human Sacrifice in Heat.

Action Survivor: After being kidnapped and held prisoner along with dozens of other people, she tries to organize an escape attempt offscreen, survives a cave in, and then helps Robin and the other survivors try to dig their way out.
Alliterative Name: Both of her names begin with Rs.
Passing Notes in Class: She and Dawn pass a notebook back and forth while writing inappropriate comments and doodling during a sex ed class.
Reformed Criminal: Despite still being in high school, she used to be an alcoholic and thief and is on probation for an unspecified crime. However, she is currently in a 12-step program and sticks to the program when her boyfriend tries to get her to rob a liquor store with him.

Other Sunnydale Residents

Joyce

Joyce Summers

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/62882d859291534072afdb9197a82cd3.jpg

"You get the hell away from my daughter."

Played By: Kristine Sutherland

"You belong at-at a good old-fashioned college with keg parties and boys, not here with Hellmouths and vampires."

Buffy and Dawn's divorced single mother, who runs an art gallery. She is originally ignorant about Buffy's activities as the Slayer but learns about them in Season 2. She still worries about her daughter and is reluctantly supportive of her work. She dies of an aneurysm in Season 5, an event which greatly affects all the Scoobies.

Action Mom: Only in a few episodes, but when she's confronted or Buffy's in danger, she fights back.
Adults Are Useless: Played relatively straight in the first season, then Played With throughout - Joyce does as much as she can for Buffy, but at points it's just not realistic to help out a super-powered daughter.
All for Nothing: In Season 5, she gets surgery to remove a brain tumor that had been plaguing her... only to unexpectedly die from a brain aneurysm (likely a complication of the removal) a handful of episodes later.
All Girls Want Bad Boys: When she reverted to her teenage years under the effects of the band candy (made by Ethan Rayne), she demonstrated an attraction toward mysterious bad boys like Ripper, a trait that was also apparent in her daughters.
Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: She slept with Giles. On the hood of a police car. Twice.
Amicable Exes: Joyce seems to get on very well with her ex-husband Hank.
Brass Balls: Joyce has been placed in many dangerous situations, but she keeps her cool and rarely shows fear for her own safety. A good example would be when Faith captures her.
Faith: You're thinking "You'll never get away with this!"
Joyce: Actually I was thinking "My daughter is going to kill you soon."
Faith: That a fact?
Joyce: More like a bet.
Faith: Whoa. You got a pair on you, Joyce.
Casual Kink: In "Band Candy" Buffy is shocked when her mother shyly produces handcuffs that she stole from a police officer earlier (turns out It Runs in the Family too, if "Dead Things" is any indication).
Characterization Marches On: In the original movie, she's shown as a vapid yuppie, a far cry from the caring, down-to-earth woman of the series. She's also unnamed and still married.
Deadpan Snarker: Her sarcasm was a prime aspect of her personality and rivaled even Buffy, bantering with her with ease. Similar to Buffy, she used sarcasm in the face of danger, such as when she held her own against Faith when the rogue Slayer held her hostage, sneering "Are you planning on slitting my throat any time soon?" in the middle of Faith's monologue.
Defiant Captive: While held hostage by Faith in "This Year's Girl." She shows no fear of Faith throughout the event, and even cuts off Faith's monologue:
Joyce: Are you planning on slitting my throat anytime soon?
Did We Just Have Tea with Cthulhu?: She forms a bizarre but genuine friendship with Spike; they drink tea and engage in small talk. Spike, for his part, adores her and is as hurt when she dies as everyone else.
Does Not Like Spam: While in hospital, she confessed to disliking Jell-O, as it creeps her out.
Dropped a Bridge on Him: Though it served to accentuate the Death Is Dramatic nature of the episode.
Fake Guest Star: She appears in a bulk of episodes in the first three seasons, and a fair few in the fourth and fifth, but is never listed as a main character.
Former Teen Rebel: As shown in "Band Candy," in which her teenager persona is unrestrained, up to and including shagging Giles on the hood of a car.
Good Parents: The fact that she manages to give Buffy exactly the half-loving/half-stern talk that she needs after her vampire boyfriend's gypsy curse turns him evil, despite not knowing that that was what had happened, speaks volumes.
Gut Punch: Her death in series 5 is listed as an example on this trope's main page and marked a shift towards a darker tone for the series in general.
High-School Sweethearts: Actually, college sweethearts. Joyce met Buffy's father at a school dance, while going stag.
It Runs in the Family: A gift for banter and sarcasm runs deep in Summers women as well as incredible beauty and something of a yen for kinkiness/bad boys.
Life Will Kill You: One day, she simply lies dead from an aneurysm. While the audience shouldn't be surprised by a death (in the Buffy-verse, at any rate), it was totally unexpected that she died the way she did. "I Was Made to Love You" ends with Buffy coming home, and her mother is dead on the floor. The next episode is called "The Body", and quickly reveals that it was a simple aneurysm — caused by complications from a procedure she underwent earlier in the series to remove a brain tumor.
- Bonus points that everyone was so surprised and unsettled that it wasn't anything extraordinary. Xander, especially, is shaken, saying things like this don't just happen. Anya, who usually has a very matter-of-fact attitude towards supernaturally related death and violence, is completely at a loss and in tears.
Mama Bear: Threaten her family at your peril. Although she knows that Buffy can take care of herself and respects that, she doesn't hesitate to shift into protection mode. She attacks Spike with a fire axe when he gets the upper hand in a fight with Buffy during his first appearance.
Joyce: You get the hell away from my daughter.
Morality Pet: She is this for Spike. Their first meeting aside (in which she brains him with the broadside of an axe), she's the one human he refuses to harm, and he's hurt terribly by her sudden death.
Mrs. Robinson: In "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered", Xander and Cordelia are running in the streets, and take refuge in the Summers' home. A bewildered Joyce notices their bruises and tells Cordelia to go fetch some bandages from the bathroom (uh oh), but as soon as Cordy's gone, Joyce starts to put the moves on Xander too.
Joyce: Let me get you something to drink. Are you in the mood for cold or hot? [not waiting for Xander's response] I think it's more of a hot night, don't you?
Never My Fault: In "Dead Man's Party", she all but openly dismisses the fact that her ultimatum to Buffy in the second season finale was instrumental in Buffy's decision to run away. However, unlike most other examples, she admits that she reacted badly, but still states that it didn't give Buffy the excuse to run.
Nice Girl: A loving, caring, empathatic parent and is loved by just about all the characters. Even Spike forms a genuine friendship with her and Faith respects her, even while taking her hostage.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: When Buffy tries to walk out on her, Joyce decides she's had enough. She reacts by smashing her drink on the floor and snapping, "Don't you talk to me that way!"
Odd Friendship: With Spike. No one really gets it, but the two definitely enjoy each others company.
Open-Minded Parent: She tries her absolute hardest to be one after finding out Buffy is The Slayer. She gets there in the end, but it takes her a full season! She attempts to tag along on Buffy's patrols and even brings snacks!
Out of Focus: She's largely absent during season four, due to Kristine Sutherland being in Italy.
Parental Obliviousness: Early in the series, until the Season 2 finale. Buffy even called her on it, asking her if she'd ever wondered where all the blood she'd had to wash out of Buffy's clothes came from. Oddly enough, the backstory gives a perfect reason why she wouldn't notice: Buffy was thought to be a troubled kid (she burned down her last school's gym).
Parents in Distress: She's been used as leverage against her daughter on several occasions. When Faith took her hostage, Joyce was unafraid, because she knew that Buffy would kick her ass.
Parting-Words Regret: Joyce pretty much instantly regrets her words during a heated argument with Buffy re: slaying.
Stacy's Mom; incredible beauty runs in the Summers' family as Xander and Giles appreciate.
Stepford Smiler: To an extent...
Buffy: I think she's just so wigged at hitting on one of my friends that she's repressing. She's getting pretty good at that... I should probably start worrying...
Talkative Loon: In "Listening to Fear".
Team Mom: She provided a surrogate mother figure to Buffy's friends, happily making them Christmas dinner and showing equal concern for their problems. When Willow received the call about Jennifer Calendar's death, Joyce held her as she cried over Buffy who was less affected. Her death strongly affected the group, including Spike because she treated him affably, Tara, who was forced to step into the role of Team Mom in her stead, and Anya, who Joyce could stand without being offended by her strange honesty.
Too Good for This Sinful Earth: Sure, she wasn't flawless, but Joyce was a good mom and person, and the Buffyverse is left emptier after she passes away.
Trademark Favorite Drink: Her favorite tipples were Schnapps and Kahlua.
Tranquil Fury: Joyce is rarely moved to genuine anger, but when she is, she still keeps her cool.
Troll: Before her death, she met a publisher named Brian who took her out for dinner and a movie. They had one date that went well, leading Joyce to tease Buffy by jokingly claiming to have left her bra at his car, then further tormenting her by saying it was actually left at the restaurant and then a dessert cart.
Undead Barefooter: When Dawn resurrects her, the viewers is given a Discretion Shot of her grey, hobbling bare feet, implying that she Came Back Wrong as a zombie. Upon realizing this, Dawn broke the spell before it could be completed.
Unflappable Guardian: Once she accepts Buffy's role as the Slayer, she starts taking all the supernatural happenings in her stride.
Villain Over for Dinner: Her and Spike on several occasions.
Joyce: Have we met?
Spike: Uh, you hit me with an axe one time. Remember, uh, "Get the hell away from my daughter"?
- Then we have the famous scene where Spike spills his guts out over his breakup with Dru. Over hot cocoa.
- She also ran into Dracula at her art gallery.

Jonathan

Jonathan Levinson

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/90c3e7f1b4d2d9f28cc2a98c4935bc9b.jpg

"I don't deserve this. I wasn't even that evil."

Played By: Danny Strong

"I really miss it. Time goes by and everything drops away. All the cruelty, all the pain, all the humiliation, it all washes away. I miss my friends. I miss my enemies. I miss the people I talked to every day. I miss the people who never knew I existed. I miss 'em all. I wanna talk to them, you know? I wanna find out how they're doing. I-I wanna know what's going on in their lives."

A Sunnydale High student, part-time sorcerer and member of the Trio.

Ascended Extra: Originally an unnamed student, he gradually increases in importance until he becomes a recurring character and reluctant Big Bad for Season 6. By Season 7, he's become important enough for The First to include him in its plan.
The Atoner: Tries, but he never gets the chance. Before that, he was perfectly willing to go to jail and accept responsibility for his crimes, only running out of fear of Willow.
Back for the Dead: Returns in Season 7 only to be killed by Andrew in his first appearance.
Big Bad Duumvirate: Forms one with Warren and Andrew, though it's apparent from the start that Warren is the only real threat; by the time the Trio is disbanded in "Seeing Red", Jonathan and Andrew have been Demoted to Co-Dragons.
Big Bad Wannabe: While Jonathan joins up with the Trio, he isn't really evil, and is absolutely horrified with Warren's actions.
Breakout Character: He was always shown as a generic Sunnydale student and later fan-favourite in the earlier seasons. Season 6 has him return and turn out be a villain. But not really evil. In any case, more important than originally thought.
Butt-Monkey: Early on, he became the show's go-to victim for anything non-lethal. As bad as high school was for everyone else at Sunnydale, Jonathan just got screwed. Even among the Trio, Jonathan's still the loser of the group, which is at its most blatant in "Flooded", where Warren and Andrew willingly offer him as a sacrifice in exchange for their own safety.
- Comes to a subtle peak after he is murdered as part of a ritual sacrifice to open the Seal of Danzalthar with his blood: It didn't work because he's anemic, making his death pointless even for the villains.
Crucified Hero Shot: He lies sprawled across the Seal of Danzalthar after Andrew kills him.
Death by Irony: Jonathan ends up being killed at Sunnydale High, the place he tried to commit suicide four years ago (and mere minutes after talking about how he looks back at his high school years with fondness, no less).
Demoted to Dragon: Becomes Warren's lackey, along with Andrew.
Driven to Suicide: Revealed to be his true motivation for bringing a gun to school in "Earshot." Buffy talks him out of it (thinking he was planning to go on a murder spree instead).
Everyone Has Standards: He is visibly shaken and horrified upon seeing just what a vile and cold-hearted piece of work Warren really is after he kills Katrina and tries to frame Buffy for it and even before that, refuses to engage in any extreme acts of villainy or try to kill Buffy, still grateful for her having saved his life.
Heel–Face Door-Slam: Jonathan was never that bad to begin with, and helps Buffy defeat Warren in their final confrontation, but Willow's subsequent rampage still sends him fleeing to Mexico with Andrew. However, when he begins to get prophetic dreams related to the First, he returns to Sunnydale, determined to redeem himself by helping Buffy stop it, and he has finally let go of all the hatred and depression that sprang from being isolated and picked on in high school. Andrew points out that nobody in Sunnydale cares about Jonathan, nobody has missed him while he was gone or will welcome him back, but Jonathan says he does not care, that he wants to help them anyway, even if they never know about it or accept him. Then Andrew, at the goading of the First, buries a ritual knife in his stomach.
Heel Realization: It first begins when Katrina explicitly refers to the Trio's attempts at making her a Sex Slave "rape". He seems startled, having clearly adhered to Double Standard: Rape, Sci-Fi. He quickly comes to realize the true meaning of being a 'villain' and ultimately turns on Warren.
Height Angst: He's implied to be insecure about being his height (Danny Strong is 5'2, shorter even than Sarah Michelle Gellar), mentioning bitterly how everyone sees him as a "short idiot".
I Just Want to Have Friends: Wonders in Season 7 if the Scoobies will let him and Andrew hang out at their house. Andrew ends up getting the chance; for all his trouble, Jonathan does not.
I Just Want to Be Special: Originally the poor guy feels left out to the point where he decides that committing suicide will finally get him noticed. When Buffy convinces him otherwise, he lapses out of this until "Superstar", where he alters the very fabric of reality to become special. Again, this doesn't work out, and Jonathan goes back to being a nobody until Season 6, where he allies himself with Warren and Andrew to take over Sunnydale and earn some respect.
Marty Stu: In-Universe in "Superstar," where Jonathan casts a reality-warping spell that makes him into a ridiculously multi-talented celebrity and hero. This episode even changes the Title Sequence, making it center on the newly Stu-ified Jonathan.
Mauve Shirt: Jonathan was introduced as little more than an extra in his first appearance, and there are several times throughout Seasons 2 and 3 where he could have been killed off to show how dangerous the conflict of the week was. He almost has his life-force sucked out from him in "Inca Mummy Girl", is present during the zombie attack on Buffy's home in "Dead Man's Party", almost takes his own life in "Earshot", and contributes to the battle against the Mayor's forces in "Graduation Day Part 2". Through it all, he survives and gradually gains more characterization. He ends up rising further in status when he gets his own Day in the Limelight in "Superstar" and becomes one of the central antagonists in Season 6. Unfortunately, like with several Mauve Shirt characters, it culminates in him being Killed Off for Real when he reappears in Season 7.
Minion with an F in Evil: Jonathan was never as evil as the other two of the Trio, he joined them because... well, because what nerd has not dreamed about becoming an Evil Overlord and being the arch-nemesis of the beautiful Slayer? He is constantly objecting to their more needlessly cruel ideas and distracts them when they begin to get sidetracked into random violence, and, since Buffy had helped him and saved his ass on more than one occasion, he is not particularly willing to kill or hurt her. When Katrina explains that brainwashing a person for sex is rape, he is visibly disturbed, and when Andrew and Warren are happy that they have managed to get away with murder, he stares blankly forward and numbly mumbles agreement. At the end of their career, when he sees what power has revealed about Warren's true character, he actually turns on the Trio and tells Buffy how to defeat Warren. In Season 7, he makes a complete turn and comes back to Sunnydale, having let go of the anger and depression that sprang from his youth, and hopes to redeem himself by helping Buffy stop the First, even if nobody cares about him or what he has become. Unfortunately, Andrew has a few things to say about that.
Promoted to Opening Titles: As part of "Superstar," due to being a Reality Warper that episode.
Redemption Equals Death: Turns on Warren and drags Andrew back to Sunnydale with him in order to finally make things right... unfortunately, The First has other plans for him, intending to use Jonathan's blood to open the Seal of Danzalthar, a task it accomplishes by tricking Andrew into thinking that Jonathan will become a god if he's killed.
Smoke Out: "Life Serial" and "Gone", both of which comically fail their intended dramatic effect.
Spear Carrier: His role in Season 2 and (most of) Season 3; the writers would often call upon Danny Strong whenever they needed a good victim, citing his good "victim face." The first episode where Jonathan is used prominently rather than for a walk-on part is in "Earshot."
Squishy Wizard: Of the Trio, he is the most magically adept.
Surprisingly Sudden Death: Jonathan is preparing to inform Buffy about the Seal of Danzalthar, when Andrew helps him to his feet. Confused, he sees Warren standing behind Andrew... who proceeds to stab Jonathan to death before he can say or do anything.
Those Two Guys: With Andrew, until Andrew murders him.
Token Good Teammate: Of the Trio, being the only one to show any initial remorse for his actions. Andrew got better; ditto for Warren.
Ungrateful Bastard: Averted. He's still grateful to Buffy for all she'd done for him before Season 6 and refuses to do anything that would seriously harm her and even still regards her as a friend. While he goes along with the plot to frame her, he's clearly not happy at all about it and later even tries to help her defeat the First Evil.
What You Are in the Dark: It does not matter that they tormented him in high school or that they have forgotten about him in the years since then, Jonathan is going to step up and be the hero for the town of Sunnydale because it is the right thing to do.
Jonathan: I'm serious, I really miss [high school]. Time goes by and everything drops away; all the cruelty, all the pain, all the humiliation, it all washes away. I miss my friends. I miss my enemies. I miss the people I talked to every day, I miss the people who never knew I existed. I miss 'em all. I want to talk to them, y'know. I want to find out how they're doing, I want to know what's going on in their lives.
Andrew: You know what? They don't want to talk to you. All those people you just mentioned, not one of them is sitting around going "I wonder what Jonathan's up to right now?" Not one of them cares about you.
Jonathan: Well, I still care about them. That's why I'm here.
With Friends Like These...: With Warren and Andrew; as the Trio, they are always bickering, and it's apparent that the other two would leave Jonathan to take the fall in a heartbeat, which they almost accomplish in "Seeing Red."
Wrong Genre Savvy: Jonathan clearly wants the Trio to be supervillains closer to that of The Silver Age of Comic Books, regularly causing trouble for fun and personal gain but not seriously hurting anyone or doing any considerable damage, and even being something of a Friendly Enemy to their nemesis. Unfortunately, this is undermined by the fact that the Trio is led by a remorseless sociopath. It isn't until Warren kills Katrina that Jonathan ends up truly getting a wake-up call.

Ben

Ben Wilkinson

"...Us?"

Played By: Charlie Weber

"I guess we're stuck with each other, huh, baby?"

A medical intern living in Sunnydale and the human prison for Glory.

Apologetic Attacker: Ben tells Dawn he's sorry even as he drags her off to be painfully sacrificed.
Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Seems like a polite and compassionate Nice Guy, but it becomes increasingly clear how selfish and cowardly he can be. Even before helping Glory capture Dawn, he summoned a Queller demon (does Exactly What It Says on the Tin) to kill the lunatics Glory had produced all over Sunnydale, so as to make his life easier.
Cessation of Existence: As Glory's human prison, her release would lead to this. One of the primary reasons he ultimately sides with her is her promise to help him escape this fate once she's restored to godhood.
Dating Catwoman: Averted. He asks Buffy out on a date and she says yes, but she ultimately cancels on him because she has too many other things in her life to deal with right now.
Face–Heel Turn: The uphill battle against Glory gets to him, and when it becomes too likely she'll win, he begrudgingly agrees to help her in exchange for her help when she becomes a Hellgod again.
I Just Want to Be Normal: He absolutely hates being Glory's human prison. Unsurprising, since it destroys his career, his social life, and ultimately kills him.
Involuntary Shapeshifting: On occasion, Glory takes control of his body and runs amok without his consent.
It's All About Me: He develops this Fatal Flaw when the barriers between him and Glory begin to break down, which led to his willingness to help Glory sacrifice Dawn in exchange for Glory promising to make him immortal when she returns to her demon dimension instead of letting him suffer Cessation of Existence.
Jekyll & Hyde: He's the Jekyll to Glory's Hyde.
Tragic Villain: All he wanted was to finally be rid of Glory.

Amy

Amy Madison

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/buffy_amy_promo.jpg

"It's crazy, all the things that've happened since I went away."

Played By: Elizabeth Anne Allen & Robin Riker

"This is not about hate. It's about power. Willow always had all the power, long before she even knew what to do with it. Just came so easy for her. The rest of us—we had to work twice as hard to be half as good. But no one cares about how hard you work. They just care about cute, sweet Willow."

A witch. Although initially starting off as Willow Rosenberg's friend and a seemingly good-natured individual, Amy gradually grew to misuse her magic, eventually ending up as an enemy to the Scooby Gang and becoming a bona fide villain during the Twilight Crisis.

And I Must Scream: Like mother, like daughter. Amy transforms herself into a rat to escape an angry mob, but can't change back. She stays a rat for years until Willow manages to change her back. Despite how much that sucked, she seemed to have accustomed to it...she kept the cage and enjoys cheese.
Animorphism: Can turn people into rats. Including herself, which probably isn't the best idea as it takes years before anyone turns her back. In Season 8, she has gotten a lot better at controlling her magic and can become a cat, as well as cast spells while in animal form.
Big "NO!": Combined with a rather twisted Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other, Amy lets out one of these when the Seed of Wonder is destroyed and she loses her powers, causing Warren to fall apart in front of her eyes, since he had only been held together by her magic.
Black Mage: Her role in the Twilight Group
Co-Dragons: To Twilight with Warren and the General in Season 8.
De-power: With the destruction of the Seed of Wonder.
Dr. Feelgood: The root of Willow's 'relapse' into her magic habit.
Emergency Transformation: To escape an angry mob, she turns herself into a rat.
Evil Counterpart: Mainly to Willow, but also to Tara; Tara advised Willow to slow down on the magic while Amy encouraged her addiction.
Evil Former Friend: To the Scoobies, and Willow in particular.
Evil Sorcerer: Particularly in Season 8
Face–Heel Turn: She goes from a nice, friendly girl to a villain after her time as a rat. In Season 1, 2 and 3 she was a close friend of the Scoobies, however after she was transformed back to her human form, she seems different. Although Amy originally remained friends with the Scoobies, especially Willow, after she introduced her to Rack, Willow and Amy began to fall out. After Willow cuts Amy out of her life, Amy holds a grudge.
Flight: In Season 8.
Forced Transformation: Was transformed back into her rat state at the end of “Lost And Found: Part Five”, this time with no way out.
Formerly Fat: She lost a lot of weight according to Willow, which turned out to be because her mother was inhabiting her body.
Grand Theft Me: Her introduction.
Hero of Another Story: In The Gatekeeper Trilogy of novels, Buffy and her friends are busy globe-trotting to deal with an apocalyptic threat which is causing Sunnydale to be even more dangerous and plagued by monsters than usual. Amy finds herself stepping into the Scooby Gang's role to try and protect the people of the town and does a good job at it, even though her efforts are only shown in two chapters of the Doorstopper trilogy.
Hot Witch: An attractive witch. She could do better than Warren.
I'm a Humanitarian: How she and Warren survived under the Sunnydale sinkhole, eating the bodies of those who died.
In-Series Nickname: According to the Sunnydale Yearbook, some of her classmates call her "Mad-woman", presumably due to her surname beginning with "Mad" and her affinity for magic that not everyone believes in.
In the Blood: Implied to be the source of her raw magical power.
Laser-Guided Karma: She turns Buffy into a rat. Guess what she spends three seasons as?
Magitek: Provided by the Twilight Group to try and give Amy an advantage against Willow.
Mommy Issues: To be fair, you'd have those issues as well if your mother tried to steal your body and life.
Motive Rant: She gives one to Kennedy when confronted with the hex she placed on Willow.
"This is not about hate. It's about power. Willow always had all the power, long before she even knew what to do with it. Just came so easy for her. The rest of us...we had to work twice as hard to be half as good. But no-one cares about how hard you work. They just care about cute, sweet Willow. They don't know how weak she is. She gave in to evil...stuff worse than I can even imagine. She almost destroyed the world! And yet everyone keeps on loving her? So what's wrong with having a little fun, huh? Taking her down a peg or two?"
Naked on Arrival: When she's de-ratted both times, she's stark naked.
Necromancer: She creates an army of zombies to attack the Slayer Organization.
Never My Fault: Blames Willow for taking three years to figure out a way of de-ratting her, even though it was Amy's spell in the first place. Perhaps she is mad that Willow kept her in a cage, even if it was for her protection, and that she wanted to keep the cage even when she was human again.
Not-So-Harmless Villain: In Seasons 7 and 8.
The Resenter: She steadily grows to hate Willow, to whom magic comes easily.
Sanity Slippage: Spending years as a rat and then getting trapped under Sunnydale forced to eat human bodies has not been beneficial for her mental health.
Screw This, I'm Outta Here: During the Battle in Sunnydale during the Twilight crisis, she and Warren escape Spike's airship and run away. She considers going back to help and see if they can fake a Heel–Face Turn, but Warren shoots down the idea since he knew Willow would never allow them to join.
Teleportation: One of her abilities.
Toxic Friend Influence: She is basically Willow's Faith, worsening the latter's magic addiction by introducing her to Rack and later ruining her attempt to go cold turkey out of spite.
Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Amy was once good friends with Willow in Middle School. She also gets on well with Xander and Buffy. However, after becoming addicted with witchcraft, she is more abrasive, forceful and becomes corrupted into a villain.
What Does She See in Him?: It's unclear why beautiful, magical Amy would want to date skinless, insecure, bullying Warren.

Devon

Devon Macleish

"Man, we need a roadie. Other bands have roadies."

Played By: Jason Hall

"You're too picky, man. Do you know how many girls you could have? You're lead guitar, Oz. It's currency!"

The lead singer of Dingoes Ate My Baby and a student at Sunnydale High.

Brainless Beauty: His lack of brain cells doesn't harm his chances with the ladies, including Cordelia for a while.
The Ditz: He's not the sharpest stake in the weapon box.
Hidden Depths: Devon acts like a Brainless Beauty musician who devotes all of his time to his band, but the Sunnydale High Yearbook mentions that he is also a talented member of the Drama Club. He is praised by the yearbook staff for his performance in Oklahoma!, even though the music in that play is different than the type Devon normally sings.
Satellite Character: In seven TV appearances and at least seven more literary ones, he barely says or does a single noteworthy thing that isn't related to making music with Oz (or dating Cordelia during their brief relationship).
What Happened to the Mouse?: Stops being mentioned after Oz's departure. Justified since none of the others were well acquainted with him except Cordelia, who'd moved to L.A. at this point.

Allan

Deputy Mayor Allan Finch

"I'm sorry to bother you, sir."

Played By: Jack Plotnick

"Should I have Mr. Trick send a... committee to deal with this?"

The Deputy Mayor of Sunnydale under the infamous Mayor Richard Wilkins.

Accidental Murder: Faith kills him by mistake.
Minion with an F in Evil: He works for the Mayor, but is very disturbed and frightened by his employer.
Murder by Mistake: While on a vampire killing spree, Faith acts too quickly and stabs him in the heart with a stake. Only then does she realize he's a human.
Small Role, Big Impact: He doesn't have much of a character and exists mostly in the background to the Mayor and Mr. Trick, but his death is a catalyst for Faith's storylines and impacts the series forever.

Parker

Parker Abrams

"Look, I'm sorry if you misunderstood something. I thought things were pretty clear."

Played By: Adam Kaufman

"Well, you know the difference between a freshman girl and a toilet seat... toilet seat doesn't follow you around after you use it —"

A UC Sunnydale student dorming in Kresge Hall.

Asshole Victim: Whenever something bad happens to Parker, it becomes hilarious.
Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: He's far from the sensitive boy he appears to be.
The Casanova: His status on-campus. He targets freshmen girls and manipulates them into sleeping with him.
The Charmer: In a subtle, manipulative way.
Hate Sink: He was designed from the start to be unlikable with the reveal that he's nothing but a callous womanizer.
Humiliation Conga: In rapid succession over the course of a few episodes, he first gets a vicious tongue lashing by Willow, clubbed in the head by Cave!Buffy, and finally, in his last appearance, punched in the face by Riley. He deserved every single bit of it.
Manipulative Bastard: Give the man credit: he plays Buffy perfectly with a combination of elegant lies and good acting.
Spike: Did he play the sensitive lad and get you to seduce him? That's a good trick if the girl's thick enough to buy it.
Not Staying for Breakfast: Due to him being a professional casanova who isn't interested in women for their personalities.

Willy

Willy the Snitch

"Here ya go. Don't ever say your friend Willy don't come through in a pinch."

Played By: Saverio Guerra

"Look, kid, my clientele ain't exactly nuns and orphans, but I... I never seen anything like these demons."

A bartender and unwilling snitch, who owned Willy's Bar, later changed to Willy's Place, a Sunnydale business that welcomed demons, vampires and humans alike, serving as a neutral place for all sorts of beings.

Bad Guy Bar: He runs one.
The Bartender: Of 'Willy's' the Bad Guy Bar.
The Chew Toy: Just about everyone gets to lay their hands on Willy from time to time.
Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Although his bar turns up from time to time, Willy himself drops off out of sight with only a brief mention about him not being around anymore.
The Informant: Usually for Buffy.

Percy

Percy West

"No, no, no. I don't have any time at lunch. I gotta hang out."

Played By: Ethan Erickson

" Rosenberg? What are you doing, trick-or-treating? You're supposed to be at home doing my history report. I flunk that class, you're in big trouble with Snyder. Till we graduate, I own your ass."

A Sunnydale High student and star point guard on the basketball team.

Hidden Depths: He acts like a Dumb Jock, but the Sunnydale High Yearbook mentions that he's one of the leaders of a group called Students Against Drunk Driving (or SADD).
Jerk Jock: Initially; he's a moron who expects people (like Willow) to do his work for him because he's a basketball star. After a session of Scare 'Em Straight from Vampire Willow, he takes a level in kindness. And then a level in jerkass after Willow overhears him badmouthing her to his current, insecure girlfriend.
Scare 'Em Straight: Courtesy of Vamprie Willow, who puts the fear of Goddess in him.
Took a Level in Jerkass: Despite his level in kindness, he's overheard by Willow badmouthing her to his girlfriend. However, he earlier seemed genuinely pleased to see her and may have just been trying to allay his girlfriend's jealousy. It's still not a nice thing to do.
Took a Level in Kindness: After a Scare 'Em Straight session and Willow's tutoring, he becomes smarter and nicer.

Rack

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d828dc5a8c40c67472398b06925c8a95.JPG

"I'm just gonna take a little tour."

Played By: Jeff Kober

"I could feel you coming a mile away, the power you got. And you know something, sweetness? I liked it. "

A sinister warlock from Sunnydale, one infamous for supplying a pure yet addictive kind of magic.

Affably Evil: He's civil, not very emotive, and will help even persona non grata (given financial incentive, anyway). That said, he possesses an undeniably sinister undercurrent and his interest in Willow is framed as that of a shady dealer whose favoured clientele is "little girls".
Asshole Victim: A scumbag through and through. It's hard to say he didn't have it coming when Willow drains him.
Chekhov's Gunman: Rack appears early in Season 6, and makes a return during "Villains" when he makes a deal with Warren. He also pops up in the comics with vengeance in mind.
Dead Guy on Display: Willow leaves his corpse floating in the air; it's later revealed in the comics that she merely drained him to near-death. He actually survived.
Didn't See That Coming: He saw Willow coming, but he didn't see that she would drain him entirely of his magic.
Does This Remind You of Anything?: He's a pretty thinly-veiled allegory for a drug-dealer; lurking in a bad area of town, disheveled and long-haired and having a generally creepy aura about him.
The Dreaded: Demons like Clem are afraid of him. Spike is aware of who he is, and is absolutely shocked to discover that Willow has been visiting his place.
Evil Tastes Good: He's a proponent of this.
Fantastic Drug: The type of magic he supplies, which has typical hallucinatory effects on Willow and Amy.
Fantastic Racism: Against floppy-eared demons, according to Clem.
Invisibility Cloak: He keeps his place hidden with one of these, although it isn't overly difficult to find if you know a regular. He himself admits that five bucks is the price his customers place on discretion.
Not Quite Dead: The Season 9 comics reveal that being drained of his magic by Willow didn't actually kill him; she merely depowered him and left him in a coma.
Pretender Diss: Rack is an experienced warlock, and the likes of Warren do not impress him.
Revenge: He wasn't pleased with Willow draining him.
Tastes Like Strawberries: So he says to Willow, word-for-word.

Scott

Scott Hope

"Okay. You know what, I thought about it, and I'm in. When do you want to go?"

Played By: Fab Filippo

"I've given it a lot of thought — some might say too much thought — to, to how I might be a part of your life. It begins with conversation. We all know this. Maybe over a cup of coffee, or maybe at the Buster Keaton festival playing on State Street all this weekend."

A Sunnydale High student and Buffy Summers's boyfriend after she returned from Los Angeles.

Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: While seeming generically nice, Scott is actually a pretty nasty piece of work. He starts flirting with Faith while dating Buffy, has a new girlfriend lined up immediately after dumping Buffy, and later spreads the rumor that Buffy's gay to distract from his own closeted homosexuality. According to Holden Webster, he said that about all his exes.
The Generic Guy: Buffy dates him because he's so utterly lacking in distinguishing traits aside from a slight over-eagerness, considering him perfect for getting over Angel and back on the horse.
Irony: He spread rumors that Buffy was gay after their break-up, and later came out of the closet himself in college.
Straight Gay: He's a little dorky, but otherwise lacks any stereotypical gay mannerisms.

Katrina

Katrina Silber

"That's it. Forget it, Warren. I'm gone."

Played By: Amelinda Embry

"You bunch of little boys playing at being men? Well, this is not some fantasy! It’s not a game, you freaks! It’s rape!"

Warren Mears' ex-girlfriend.

Accidental Murder: How she's killed by Warren; he intends to knock her out.
Creepy Monotone: While mind-controlled by Warren.
Screw This, I'm Outta Here: When Warren shows a glimpse of who he truly is deep down, Katrina decides she isn't going to stand for that and walks out on him.
Sex Slave: Warren tried to turn her into this.

One-shot Characters

Catherine

Catherine Madison

"How dare you raise your hand to your mother! I gave you birth. I gave up my life, so you could drag that worthless carcass around and call it living!"

Played By: Robin Riker & Elizabeth Anne Allen

Appears In: "The Witch"

"I shall look upon my enemy. I shall look upon her and the dark place will have her soul!"

The mother of Amy Madison and a powerful witch. During her teenage years, she had attended Sunnydale High School and was captain of the cheerleading squad.

Abusive Parent: Catherine treats Amy like a genuine inconvenience, being emotionally and verbally abusive toward her. She goes so far as to steal her daughter's body so she can relive her glory days.
And I Must Scream: She has one of her spells turned back on her, and seemingly vanishes. At the end of the episode, it turns out she's been trapped in one of her old cheerleading trophies. When the school was destroyed 2 years later, the trophy was presumably destroyed as well, presumably destroying Catherine in the process.
Alpha Bitch: Was very popular when in High School, being the Captain of the Cheerleading Squad and Homecoming Queen.
Attack Backfire: While attempting a spell on Buffy, it's reflected back at her.
Black Eyes of Evil: When she's casting her final spell on Buffy.
…But He Sounds Handsome: While in her daughter's body, she can't stop telling everyone how wonderful she is.
Catherine: [in Amy's body] She put herself through cosmetology school. Bought me everything I ever wanted. And never once gained a single pound.
Damn You, Muscle Memory!: She can't make her daughter's body move like her own, and so fails the tryouts.
Death Glare: Toward other cheerleaders.
Grand Theft Me: Catherine steals her daughter's body, switching places so she can relive her life as a teenager. She still makes Amy do homework, though.
It's All About Me: She's incredibly self-obsessed and narcissistic,
Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: When we first meet Amy (actually Catherine in her daughters body) at cheerleading tryouts, she seems nice enough. She is polite to Buffy and nice to Willow, even telling Buffy how nervous she gets. Her sweet nature is seemingly just a cover-up to seem more like Amy. She gladly tries to burn one cheerleader alive, blind another one and then erase the mouth off of another just to make the Squad. She’s also emotionally and verbally abusive to her daughter.
Laser-Guided Karma: She wanted to relive her glory days so she steals her own daughter's body. When the spell is reversed, she tries to blast Buffy with a magic spell but it gets deflected back at her and she disappears. The Scoobies don't know what happened to her but we find out that Catherine is now stuck in her old cheerleading trophy i.e "reliving her glory days".
Meaningful Name: Catherine Madison, AKA Catherine the Great.
Never My Fault: When it comes to Catherine, everything is everyone else's fault.
Pom-Pom Girl: Catherine was Captain of the Cheerleading Squad in her days as an actual teenager, and led the Squad to become Tri-county Champions, something that had never been succeeded before or since.
Skewed Priorities: Perhaps Giles said it best.
Giles: Let me make sure I have this right. This witch is casting horrible and disfiguring spells so that she can become a cheerleader?
Stage Mom: Initially, she seems to be this and she likely is, but she's taken it to a whole new level. Stage parents want to live vicariously through their children; Catherine wants to live quite literally through Amy.
Super Loser: She might be a powerful witch, was a very popular girl in High School and her career in cosmetology after her husband left her in financial ruin gave her the money to afford an elegant home, but she's also an emotionally stunted narcissist obsessed with her High School fame, during which she peaked.
Vain Sorceress: She stole her own daughter's body to relive her high school glory days.
Wicked Witch: She may not physically resemble the classic witch archetype, but she was certainly wicked (bodyswapping with Amy to relive her youth). Later seasons proved that Amy was also leaning toward the wicked side.

Weirick

Dr. Weirick

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/a0752310f95da92db4d38c4cdf32126c.jpg

"...the power will be mine."

Played By: James Stephens

Appears In: "The Pack"

"Oh, hold it, hold it, are you blind, or are you just illiterate? Because hyenas are very quick to prey on the weak."

A zookeeper and the man in charge of the Hyena House Exhibit at the Sunnydale Zoo.

Four Eyes, Zero Soul: Weirick wears glasses and is a power-hungry bag of dicks.
Hoist by His Own Petard: He's eaten by the hyenas he tried to capture the spirits of.
Just Desserts: Weirick winds up in the hyena pen, and is subsequently eaten alive by them.
No Name Given: His name isn't mentioned in the actual show, just in the credits. He's referred to as "Zookeeper" throughout, which is how viewers know him.
Obviously Evil: No prizes for guessing that he's the main antagonist.
Self-Disposing Villain: Downplayed. He gets eaten by a hyena by Buffy throwing him into the hyena cage.
Super-Strength: After taking the power of the hyenas.
Would Hurt a Child: He was perfectly willing to murder a teenage Willow.

Billy

Billy Palmer

"I'm sorry, I can't help it."

Played By: Jeremy Foley

Appears In: "Nightmares"

"The Ugly Man. He wants to kill me. A-and he hurt that girl."

A young teenage boy from Sunnydale.

Apologetic Attacker: He rather sadly apologizes for the chaos his nightmares inflict.
Astral Projection: He's able to manifest as an astral projection during his coma, but his 'return' causes nightmares to physically manifest wherever he goes, and soon throughout Sunnydale.
Convenient Coma: Conquering his inner fears automatically snaps him out of it.
Creepy Child: Although he's just an innocent boy, his Dissonant Serenity and nightmare powers make him a little unsettling.
Dissonant Serenity: He looks on impassively at his handiwork, apparently under the impression that it's only in his dream.
Dream Weaver: He brings the nightmares of others to vivid life, although it isn't intentional and he can't control it.
Institutional Apparel: Whenever he appears, he's in his hospital duds.
Reality Warper: His coma dreams change the nature of reality in Sunnydale, bringing everybody's nightmares to life.

Novel-Exclusive Characters

The Crew of the Lizzie S

Captain Dale Stagnatowski, Andy Hinchberger, and Summer Simpson

The crew of a fishing vessel who encounter the infamous Davy Jones in the novel The Gatekeeper Trilogy: Ghost Roads. Dale was also mentioned in an earlier book, Child of the Hunt, after his preteen son was turned into a vampire and staked by a regretful Buffy.

Alliterative Name: Summer's first and last names begin with S.
Bring My Brown Pants: Andy wets his pants when he sees the Flying Dutchman.
Death Seeker: Dale is described as a man whose gone crazy and likes to "push his luck" too much since the disappearance of his son and Sanity Slippage of his wife.
Join or Die: They are ordered to pledge loyalty to Davy Jones or be keelhauled or hanged by him. Only Andy chooses to submit to the monster, but he dies soon afterward when the Flying Dutchman is destroyed in a fight with the heroes.
Roguish Poacher: They sneak out to sea to fish even after the Coast Guard declares the bay off-limits due to monster attacks, but are fairly benevolent people who aren't overfishing the area.
The Teetotaler: Andy's ex-fiancee made him quit drinking anything stronger than root beer. Even after they broke up, he found that being sober and clearheaded was something he wanted to continue.
Unkempt Beauty: Summer has wild hair and wears old and dirty overalls, t-shirts, and sneakers that are soaked with blood from the fish she guts. She is still very pretty and Andy is infatuated with her.
Undercover Cop Reveal: Summer is revealed to be a Coast Guard officer who was assigned to go work for Dale and investigate (false) rumors he was smuggling drugs, although this doesn't affect the plot at all.

Daniel

Daniel Addison

A dino-phile museum worker at the Sunnydale Museum of Natural History in the novel Paleo. He plots to hatch dinosaur eggs for fame and glory, a goal which is being manipulated by dangerous dark forces.

Brilliant, but Lazy: He is very knowledgeable about dinosaurs and has some raw cunning, but an old supervisor evaluation the Scooby Gang digs up on him describes him as someone unwilling to put in the hard work needed for success, a highly accurate description.
The Corruptor: New Transfer Student and fellow dino-phile Kevin Sanderson becomes less rational and moral the more time he spends listening to Daniel (who assumes a mentor role to him) talk about bringing back dinosaurs with magic.
Glory Seeker: His goal in life is to do something that will get people to know his name and he will hatch dangerous dinosaurs and shrug off a death they cause to achieve that goal.
Pet the Dog: He feels some sadness and respect while reading up on an archeologist who uncovered some of the stuff he plans to use after learning the man had his paltry bank balance donated to the museum due to having no next of kin or close peers when he died.

Art

Art Sledge

A detective who appears in the last act of the novel Revenant.

Drives Like Crazy: Buffy describes being in a car he's driving as being like riding in a "runaway juggernaut".
Hero of Another Story: Sledge has spent years as a detective in Sunnydale, navigating dangerous situations and keeping an eye on some of the same threats Buffy and Angel (who he respects) deal with.
Occult Detective: Downplayed. He is a normal Hard Boiled Detective who mainly works in divorce cases, but "work{ing] out of the shadows in this town" causes him to know about the supernatural and be prepared to deal with it.
Perma-Stubble: He has several days worth of unshaven facial hair.
Small Role, Big Impact: He only appears in one scene but saves Buffy and Angel from being killed and gives them important information about the villain's Evil Plan.

DeSola

Del DeSola

A Mexican-born oil magnate who lives in Sunnydale and appears in The Unseen Trilogy.

Screw the Money, I Have Rules!: While he's probably too ruthless to be a full-blown Honest Corporate Executive, he refuses a business proposition to use his ships to smuggle drugs even though this makes him dangerous enemies.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: He is fed up with Mexican criminal organizations drawing so many of his culture's youth into a never-ending cycle of crime and violence that also draws racist paranoia toward Mexicans as a whole, and offers to bankroll The Mafiya if they will destroy the Mexican gangs (whether by killing them or getting them arrested) thoroughly enough that they can never come back. He knows that this will get many people killed and that the Russians will fill the Evil Power Vacuum those gangs will leave behind and keep running drugs and such, but is willing to make that trade if it will separate Mexicans and Mexican-Americans from the criminal specter once and for all.
What Happened to the Mouse?: He disappears from the story after his first meeting with The Mafiya.

Billy Bob

Officer Billy Bob Moffitt

A Sunnydale cop, he appears in a short but memorable scene of The Unseen Trilogy.

Arbitrary Skepticism: He accepts that Sunnydale has supernatural things happen there but isn't sure if he believes the rumors about the town's protector Buffy, albeit mainly because he has cleaned up after crime scenes where she wasn't there to save someone.
Heroic BSoD: After a week of harrowing work against unkillable supernatural monsters that are flocking into town, he eventually gives up trying to do anything, just sitting on a curb in despair and contemplating moving back to his home state of Tennesse.
Heroic Lineage: His father and grandfather are both cops like him and he is proud of their service.

Characters / Buffyverse: Sunnydale Residents

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