History Characters / BuffyTheVampireSlayerScoobyGang

* AwesomeMcCoolname: No Alices or Bobs here; this is an Aerith-Only group. The only normal-name is Andrew.

* [[Characters/BuffyTheVampireSlayerScoobyGangOriginals Original Scooby Gang]]
* [[Characters/BuffyTheVampireSlayerScoobyGangLaterAdditions Later Additions]]
* [[Characters/BuffyTheVampireSlayerScoobyGangFormerMembers Former Members]]

!The Original Scooby Gang

[[folder:Buffy]]
!!Buffy Anne Summers
[[quoteright:250:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/buffy.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:250:''"If the apocalypse comes, beep me."'']]
->'''Played By:''' Creator/SarahMichelleGellar, Creator/ElizaDushku & Mimi Paley

-->''"Cool! Crossbow! Check out these babies. Goodbye stakes, hello flying fatality."''

The Slayer, main heroine, and unofficial leader of the Scoobies (when not fighting with Giles and Faith for control). Barbie with a kung-fu grip. Started out as a reluctant heroine, but grew to accept her destiny. For much of the show's run, she was the only really combat-capable character. [[DeathIsCheap Died twice]].
----
* ABirthdayNotABreak: ''Every single time'' her birthday is celebrated on-screen, it's followed by a big-time supernatural incident or crisis; Spike even lampshades it in the Season 6 episode "Older and Far Away," telling Buffy that since bad things always seem to happen whenever she celebrates her birthday, she should just stop doing so. Buffy apparently takes this to heart, since this is the last time they ever do so.
* ActionGirl:
** WordOfGod states the seed for Buffy was to take the opening of every horror movie and turn it on its head; namely, the dim blonde walks into the dark alley, a monster appears, and the girl rips the monster a new one.
** The movie and the TV series both feature such a scene: in the film, Buffy is told off for being an idiot. In the pilot episode, she clobbers Angel from above. And in the very first scene of the show, Darla chows down on a creeper while wearing a schoolgirl outfit.
* ActionFashionista: She has an extensive wardrobe. When joining the Initiative, she turns down their practical black-clad nightgear because it looks too ''Private Benjamin'' for her. The exception is when Buffy is having a crisis of confidence and changes into her Dungarees of Doom.
* AdultFear: Buffy comes home to find her mother dead on the couch. Buffy, a girl who fights vampires and demons, is reduced to a near catatonic state clearly wondering how long Joyce had been in the house and if she could have been saved. It gets worse several episodes later when, despite the Scoobies' best efforts, her sister Dawn is still captured.
* AerithAndBob: As is constantly {{Lampshaded}}, Buffy plus About Most of the Cast and Whoever's Left.
* AllCrimesAreEqual: Although its heavy on her heart, don't mistake that for weakness. It doesn't matter who you are, an acquaintance, a friend, a close friend, a family member or even a lover. Bottom line, if she has to fight or even kill you should you commit evil and threaten innocents, then she ''will''.
* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Lampshaded by Buffy herself in "Something Blue" when she worries that a nice, safe relationship would lack the intensity.
* AllWomenLoveShoes: Buffy and Cordelia have one thing in common.
* AlwaysSaveTheGirl: A more familial example: in "The Gift," she flat-out admits that she's perfectly willing to let Glory destroy the world as long as it means she can save and protect Dawn to the very end.
* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: She's the most combat-capable of the Scoobies, and their de facto leader. When she left at the end of Season 2, the Scoobies picked up the slack without her, and got [[CurbStompBattle curb-stomped]] by common vampires. It got to the point that, after her death in Season 5, the Scoobies had to reactivate and reprogram the Buffybot to make ''any'' dent in Sunnydale's demon population.
* AwesomeMomentOfCrowning: Buffy being given the Class Protector Award qualifies as a crowning.
* BadassAdorable: Especially in the high school seasons.
* BadassAngster: Often angst about her destiny of vampire slayer but especially in Season 7 which was outright depression.
* BadassBoast: To the first Turok-Han:
--> "I'm the thing that monsters have nightmares about. And right now, you and me are gonna show 'em ''why''.
* BadLiar: Buffy exhibits this trait on a few occasions. She seems to subliminally ''want'' to be caught out in her Slayer duties, but the adults around her are too wrapped up in denial. In ''Buffy'' Season 4/''Angel'' Season 1, when she chases Faith to L.A. and is arguing with Angel after Faith turns herself in, Buffy insists to Angel that she came because he was in danger (Faith ''was'' previously trying to kill him under Wolfram & Hart's employ), but Angel doesn't buy it for a second and accuses her of only coming for vengeance; Buffy doesn't even try to deny that.
* BareHandedBladeBlock: Pulls it off against Angelus at the end of Season 2.
* BastardGirlfriend: She's just as guilty of this as Spike in her Season 6 relationship with him. She constantly verbally degrades him, tries to force him into sex when he doesn't want it in "Gone", and violently beats him bloody before leaving him on the ground in "Dead Things".
* BatDeduction: In Season 6, when [[NotSoHarmlessVillain Warren]] [[MoralEventHorizon kills his ex-girlfriend Katrina]] and uses magic and time-distorting demons to trick Buffy into thinking that ''she'' was the one who did it. Just as she is about to turn herself in to the police and it looks like Warren's EvilPlan will succeed, she overhears the cops identify Katrina's body and immediately realizes Warren's scheme.
* BattleCouple: With Angel (after he drops the cryptic wise man act), Riley (after he discovers her SecretIdentity), and later Spike (once his "lovesick poet" personality comes out to play).
* BeautifulDreamer: Spike says that just [[SecurityCling holding Buffy]] and watching her sleep was the most beautiful night of his life. Also, after Angel lost his soul, he would watch Buffy sleep (and draw pictures of her). While it was probably to intimidate her, it was established that he had an obsession with her, akin to what he felt for the human Drusilla.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Very sweet and friendly but there is a reason vampires and demons are so afraid of her.
* BiTheWay / AmbiguouslyBi: In the Season 8 comic, she engages in a brief relationship with Satsu, one of the new slayers. She explicitly calls their first night together the best night of her life. However, Joss Whedon refers to this as her [[NoBisexuals "being young and experimenting"]], so her canon orientation is unclear.
* BigSisterInstinct: To Dawn. [[spoiler: She'd rather risk the world than allow her to be killed.]]
* BlessedWithSuck[=/=]CursedWithAwesome: Generally she views her slayer powers as a hassle but sometimes they come in handy.
* BookDumb: Truth be told, much of her Book Dumbness comes from just being too busy saving humanity to study. As one of her few sympathetic teachers tells her (right before being eaten by something, naturally), she has a first-rate mind and can think on her feet.
* BraidsOfAction: Buffy, when on patrol, has the "two-braids" version. Alternate Buffy, from "The Wish," as the "one-braid" version.
* BreakTheCutie: This is a Joss Whedon production. Cuties are inevitably broken; Season 7.
* BrilliantButLazy: She often skipped training or trained on her own time. It wasn't until Season 5 that she took training seriously.
* BroughtDownToNormal: In Season 3's "Helpless," Giles is forced to strip her of her powers using powerful mixtures of adrenaline suppressors and muscle relaxers as part of her Cruciamentum, a rite of passage to test the Slayer's intellect and wit.
* BuffySpeak: The TropeNamer. It's like a whole Buffy, Speak-y... thing.
* BullyHunter: She throws down [[JerkJock Larry]], defends Xander and Willow, and when suspected witches start being targeted, she steps in, causing the group of thugs to back off without her saying or doing a thing.
* BurgerFool: In Season 6, being desperately short of money, she's forced to take a job slinging burgers at the Doublemeat Palace.
* CameBackStrong: Shortly before her battle with the Master, Buffy overheard from Giles that she was prophesied to die in the struggle. Terrified at the thought of dying young, she was no match for the Master, who easily overpowered her and left her to die in a pool. After being resuscitated (technically 'dying' for a minute), Buffy felt renewed strength at cheating fate and faced the Master again and won.
* CameBackWrong: What Buffy believes she has becomes in Season 6, after Willow reanimates her cadaver using dark rites and blood of animals. Indeed, Spike's chip no longer reads her as human. Ultimately subverted; the spell only altered her molecular structure very slightly, but just enough to confuse Spike's chip, which he takes advantage of to convince Buffy that she is no longer human
* CartwrightCurse: All of her boyfriends either dump her (Angel, Riley) or die (Spike).
* TheCastShowOff: All that ass Buffy kicks? Creator/SarahMichelleGellar is in fact a kickboxer and black belt in tae kwon do. That won't do for the Gods of Irony. Therefore, Gellar also happens to be terrified of graveyards.
* CasualKink: Bondage, BDSM, handcuffs, spanking, naughty outfits, porn and biting are suggested to be just some of her interests. Yowza.
* TheChainsOfCommanding: If it sucks to be the Slayer then it also sucks to be the Head Slayer.
* TheCheerleader: Pre-series; the last time she so much as mentions it is in the third episode because she doesn't have time for it. Also, Giles couldn't stand the idea.
* ChildSoldier: Not as overt thanks to DawsonCasting, but when you forcibly recruit a fifteen year-old girl to fight monsters...
* TheChosenOne: Sort of. The moment she drowned in the Master's cave, the Slayer line moved on to Kendra Young (and from Kendra to Faith Lehane upon Kendra's death). She's still a Slayer, but while she is '''''a''''' Chosen One, she is no longer '''''the''''' Chosen One.
* ClingyJealousGirl: Frequently jumping to conclusions about Angel being involved with [[BettyAndVeronica Drusilla or Cordelia or Faith]]. Her jealous nature was tempered in later relationships, partly because she wore the pants by that time.
* CombatPragmatist: Using improvised weapons, [[GroinAttack kicking Angelus in the groin]]... the list goes on.
* ComfortFood: "When this is over I'm thinking pineapple pizza and teen video movie fest. Possibly something from the Ringwald oeuvre." There's also the Buffy sized tub of chicken she brings back from her intense visit to Angel when she was brought BackFromTheDead.
%%* CoolBigSis: To Dawn.
* ContagiousHeroism: One look at Buffy pulls Angel out of a decades long depression in order to help her fight the forces of evil. She has a similar effect on Spike, even if his behavior toward her could be called predatory at best and it does take him a LOT longer to come around than it took Angel.
* CoolLoser: It should be noted that the resident AlphaBitch ''does'' scout her out to be one of the "cool girls" when she first arrives in Sunnydale, but her vampire-fighting ways quickly get her pegged as a violent juvenile delinquent. Which, technically, she is.
* CovertPervert: When hit with a love spell she tries stripping for Xander, and when normal she gets worse ([[EthicalSlut better]]?) as the series progresses.
* CuteBruiser: Xander thinks so. [[AmazonChaser He has a thing for slayers.]]
* DarkAgeOfSupernames: Buffy Summers fits more with a trope below. What she's known as, the Slayer, definitely counts.
* ADateWithRosiePalms: She admits to thinking of her boyfriend before moving to Sunnydale, listening to the song "I Touch Myself." [[BlatantLies Before claiming not to know what the song meant]].
* DatingCatwoman: Managed to woo quite a few Big Leaguers in the vampire world, including Count Dracula himself. The notorious vampires Angel and Spike both fell hard for her, and show no signs of moving on anytime soon. She even attracted the attention of The Immortal, an Italian Lothario who had racked up quite a hit count in his own right; in this case, however, The Immortal was duped into dating an impostor.
* DeadpanSnarker: Often slinging some witty line at Giles for too serious (or too british) or the MonsterOfTheWeek or something else.
* DeathSeeker: Implied, but ultimately subverted; after being resurrected in Season 6, Buffy suffered severe depression and stated at least once that she was happier when dead. It's to the extent that in the Season 6 finale, Dawn is genuinely surprised that Buffy actually ''didn't'' want Willow to destroy the world.
* DefectorFromDecadence: She never really cares about what the Watchers' Council has to say about how she does things. During Season 3, she gets particularly disgusted when their Cruciamentum test results in the AxCrazy vampire they captured to test her breaking loose and kidnapping her mom, and when they refuse to help her save Angel after he is poisoned [[VanHelsingHateCrimes simply for being a vampire]], that was the straw that broke the camel's back: she cuts all ties with them for over a year.
* DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist: Once. The second time there was a price to pay; Buffy suffers major depression that lasts the entire season.
* DespairEventHorizon: She crosses it in the final episodes of Season 5 when, despite her best efforts, Dawn is captured by Glory. The sheer guilt over failing to protect Dawn after everything she's been through renders Buffy catatonic for almost the entirety of the next episode, forcing Willow to embark on a JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind to snap her out of it; during said travel, Buffy confesses she'd long since given up hope of defeating Glory and actually began ''wishing'' that Glory would win just so the fear would finally end.
* DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife: In Season 9, she looks to be slowly going bonkers after everything she's lost. Andrew reveals to Buffy at her housewarming party that he's set up a disaster relief fund with some other Slayers, much to her dismay as he has made something of his life and she, as yet, has not without being the Slayer.
* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: Buffy is usually the one to do this, taking out the invincible Judge, Mayor, Glory and Caleb.
* DidntThinkThisThrough: When she had Willow activate all Slayers worldwide, it didn't occur to Buffy that not all of the newly empowered Slayers would be willing to use their powers for good, with one Slayer in particular, Simone Doffler, becoming a terrorist and obsessed with killing her, and another, a mental patient named Dana, breaking out of a mental hospital and causing all manner of trouble for the Angel Investigations team in L.A.
* DisappearedDad: Divorced, and later [[PutOnABus vanishes overseas]] when Buffy really could use his help after her mother dies. Arguably the cause of her hangups with men.
* DisappointedByTheMotive: Late in Season 5, this is her reaction to TheReveal that the extent of Glory's EvilPlan amounts to nothing more than just using Dawn/the Key to return to her home dimension:
-->'''Buffy''': That's it? ''That's'' Glory's master plan? To go ''home''?
* DisneyDeath: Clinical death and the outright resurrection.
* DoesNotKnowHerOwnStrength: At times. For example, during the Season 1 episode "Witch", she accidentally throws one of her classmates across the gym during cheerleading practice, and in Season 5's "Into the Woods", accidentally crushes the doctor who operated on her mother while hugging him in relief.
* DoesntLikeGuns: Partly because GunsAreWorthless against most supernatural beings, and partly because of Tara's death.
* DontYouDarePityMe: A variation. After revealing to Tara that, as a result of her depression, she'd been allowing Spike to abuse her, Buffy tearfully begs Tara to ''not'' forgive her; not out of anger, but because she's so disgusted with herself that she doesn't think she deserves pity.
* TheDreaded: "I'm the thing that monsters have nightmares about. And right now, you and me are gonna show 'em ''why''. It's not simply a boast; it's an objective statement of fact.
* DrillSergeantNasty: Really nasty. After Chloe kills herself Buffy basically calls her a weak idiot and lashes out at everyone, in a misguided attempt to encourage the other Potentials to not follow the same path. It's simultaneously a genuine effort, stupid, desperate and cruel, and it doesn't really work.
* DrivesLikeCrazy: "Summers, you drive like a spaz!"
* DumbBlonde: Strongly averted. She gets poor grades (mostly due to her role as the Slayer taking up the time that she could be using to study), but she's quick-witted, well-spoken, and very intelligent.
* EasilyForgiven: By her family and friends, despite engaging in behavior ranging from jerkass ("When She Was Bad") to blatantly irresponsible ("Revelations") to insanely murderous ("Normal Again"). This is partly because the Scooby Gang genuinely admire Buffy's heroism, and also because their lives depend on her. Plus when a Slayer goes off the rails [[BewareTheSuperman there's not much they can do about it]]. Besides, most of them have gone homicidally evil at some point, so it's kinda hard to judge.
* ExperiencedProtagonist: By the time of the first episode, Buffy is already an established Slayer.
* {{Expy}}: Buffy, as a character, is largely based on Kitty Pryde, a character in ''ComicBook/XMen''. It's been theorized she was inspired by Regina and Samantha Belmont of ''Film/NightOfTheComet'': blonde, Californian morons who find themselves battling the undead.
* ExtremeDoormat: At times, when it comes to her friends. Most notably in Season 6 when the Scoobies bring her back and she finds out that Willow and Tara had been living in her house and off her money the entire time she'd been dead, and hadn't even had the decency to pay her bills, thus landing her in a deep financial hole at the time of her resurrection. And then they ''still'' don't bother to pay rent even after all that, even though they're still living in Buffy's house.
* FailedASpotCheck: Throughout the early part of Season 6, she doesn't notice all of the obvious signs that Willow has developed an addiction to magic, even after Xander and Anya point it out to her and after Tara breaks up with her because of it; it isn't until Willow's addiction leads to her getting Dawn in a near-fatal car accident that Buffy finally notices.
* FallenPrincess: From AlphaBitch and Prom Queen at her last school, to a violent and flaky suspected-arsonist who hangs out with losers and is somehow involved with all the weird stuff in Sunnydale that no-one likes to talk about.
* FluffyTheTerrible
-->'''Xander:''' Someone has to talk to her people. That name is striking fear in nobody's hearts.
** Even her allies can't quite believe it:
-->'''Ancient Guardian:''' What's your name?
-->'''Buffy:''' Buffy.
-->'''Ancient Guardian:''' No, really?
* FlyingBrick: [[spoiler:After getting a power-up in Season 8, she can fly in addition to her slayer super strength.]]
* {{Forgiveness}}: Takes Giles' "Forgiveness is an act of compassion" speech in Season 2 to heart, full stop, and becomes one of the most forgiving characters on the show. Forgives Angel for the deeds of Angelus; forgives Giles for poisoning her and nearly getting her and her mother killed as apart of the Council's twisted test in Season 3; forgives Spike for trying to [[MostWritersAreMale rape her]], forgives Faith again and again for all of her numerous betrayals, etc.
* AFriendInNeed: Frequently. Most notably all of the times she went out of her way to help Faith get herself together, at least prior to "This Year's Girl": and when she forgave Willow and continued to allow her to stay in her home, rent free, after Willow nearly killed Dawn during her magic addiction phase.
* GallowsHumor: Buffy has always had a morbid sense of humor; in Season 6 after she's brought back from the dead it tends to get a DudeNotFunny reaction from the Scoobies.
* GirlyBruiser: Cheerleading (in one episode), dancing, and boychasing whenever she's not busy slaying vampires. In the Season 1 finale, she killed The Master while wearing a prom dress. Her overt girliness wanes considerably after the first season, and even during then some aspects (like the cheerleading) drop away very quickly.
* GoodIsNotSoft: She fights vampires and demons, but those who are human and evil she treats with particular disdain.
* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: Naturally.
* HealingFactor: Buffy will generally recover from her injuries in a matter of hours, or at most a day or two.
* HeavenSeeker: In Season 6 because she was there before Willow revived her and the pull back was traumatic.
* TheHeroine: She is the Slayer and so it is her job to kill bad guys ForGreatJustice.
* HeroAntagonist: She serves this role in the ''Angel'' episode "Sanctuary," wanting to kill Faith for [[GrandTheftMe swapping bodies with her]] and [[PowerPerversionPotential sleeping with Riley at that time]]; this puts her into conflict with Angel, who wants to rehabilitate Faith. Eventually, Buffy calms down and wants Faith locked up instead.
* HeroWithBadPublicity: A tragic irony is that Joyce and Principal Flutie assume Buffy is a juvenile delinquent, when she's actually trying to do the right thing. Then in Season 8 she literally has bad publicity, while the vampires are [[VillainWithGoodPublicity Villains With Good Publicity]].
* HeroicBSOD: Several times. The most prominent examples being after the TraumaCongaLine she is put through in Season 2, which spilled over into Season 3; and arguably all of Season 6 -- or at the very least, the first couple of days after she was brought back to life against her will and forced to dig herself out of her own grave, [[WhatAnIdiot due to her friend's negligence.]]
* HeroicSafeMode: She's is in this state throughout "Forever," bottling up her emotions in order to deal with the grief over Joyce's death. Sadly, Dawn mistakes this as Buffy [[AngstWhatAngst not even caring that their mother is gone]]. At the end of the episode, [[TearJerker the dam breaks]].
* HeroicSecondWind: During her fights with the Master, Angelus, Glory, and the First.
* HeroicSelfDeprecation: The narrative doesn't really like to highlight this, but Buffy does have the tenancy to let her friends and family belittle all the trauma her calling puts her through. See: Dead Man's Party, where she just stands there and lets everyone gang up on her for running away after [[TraumaCongaLine she'd been forced to kill Angel, was kicked out of her home, and was framed for murder]], and the pre-OMWF episodes of Season 6, where she didn't tell her friends they'd selfishly pulled her out of heaven, because she didn't want them to feel bad.
* HeroismWontPayTheBills: In addition to having a full time job as the Slayer, Buffy has to take several low-paying jobs throughout Seasons 6 and 7 to support herself and Dawn.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Willow, even after the latter's coming out. In Season 6's "Gone," the case-worker that visits the Summers home even briefly mistakes them for a couple.
%%* HighSchoolHustler
* HighlyConspicuousUniform: Buffy often patrols wearing bright colors to lure out vamps.
* HonorBeforeReason:
** Often comes across as such when it comes to dealing with [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters evil humans]]. She lets a werewolf hunter leave even though judging by the collection of teeth he's killed dozens of people to get werewolf pelts. She refuses to kill her friend Ford, who betrayed her, until after he becomes a vampire. And in the sixth season, despite the fact that Warren killed her friend Tara in cold blood and nearly killed her as well, she insists that she can't kill him because he's human and being the Slayer doesn't give her a license to kill. Perhaps the most extreme case of this is in Season 5, where she adamantly refuses to kill Dawn even to save the world.
** She also has this in regards to her [[DoesntLikeGuns aversion to guns]]. In the Season 8 comics, Buffy refused to use a Chinese assault rifle Giles gave her, even in the midst of a war with human soldiers.
* HumbleHero: An interesting version, Buffy knows she's awesome, but her self-esteem has taken so many hits throughout the years that she feels bad about owning it.
* HurtingHero: Frequently, though she powers through it and tries not to let her family and friends see. Especially in Season 6.
* {{Hypocrite}}:
** During Season 6, she attempts to talk Dark Willow down by getting her to focus on the positives in life, but Willow promptly shoots her down with a BreakingSpeech, pointing out all of Buffy's self-destructive habits during the season and reminding her that Buffy is ''not'' happy to be alive again.
** Shows compassion and empathy for Warren's SexBot April, but views the Buffybot, who was designed by Warren for Spike, as nothing but an "[[ItIsDehumanizing it]]" and calls it as such.
** In the ''Angel'' episode "Sanctuary," she tries claiming the moral high ground with Angel, declaring that both he and Faith are killers. Of course, this falls a bit flat considering the fact that Buffy outright tried to ''murder'' Faith during "Graduation Day, Part 1," and had come to Los Angeles to finish the job.
** When Willow goes dark, Buffy insists on helping her and talking her down, but when Anya, now a vengeance demon again, kills several people in granting a wish, Buffy jumps right to MurderIsTheBestSolution; when Xander points this out, Buffy replies that it's not the same thing [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman because Willow is human and Anya is a demon]]. In the same conversation, she states that when it comes to demons, she is the law and her word and judgment is absolute, when previously, she specifically told Faith that Slayers ''aren't'' the law or [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveSupernaturalPowers above it]]. Although her comment about Slayers was specifically about humans, who have an entire justice system apt to deal with them and whose propensity and talent for evil is much lesser than most demon's. And she does come around regarding Anya once she realizes her potential for redemption.
* IDidWhatIHadToDo: Her attitude towards [[TheMagicGoesAway causing the end of magic]] during Season 9, hence why she repeatedly dismisses Willow's concerns. She only accepts the true magnitude of it when she discovers that [[spoiler: Dawn is dying without magic]].
* IJustWantToBeNormal: She grows more accepting of her Slayer duties as time grows on, but the desire to be normal never completely goes away.
* ImprobableWeaponUser: She certainly qualifies, since she frequently uses improvised weapons to kill vampires, especially in the early seasons. Most of these are improvised stakes, ranging in size from a pencil to a mop handle (and, in "Homecoming", she stakes a vampire with a ''spatula''). She also decapitates a vampire with a cymbal in "The Harvest".
* IncompatibleOrientation: With Satsu. Even though Buffy is flattered, and sleeps with her (twice!), she is quite adamant that she is not a lesbian and they can't be together.
* InformedFlaw: A complicated example. Buffy is supposed to be a inversion of the girly blonde cheerleader who gets killed by the monster in a {{horror}} film. It's implied that the Buffy movie takes place before the series and there she ''started out'' as the girly bimbo cheerleader, but that becoming TheChosenOne put an end to that. The show doesn't start until ''after'' she has [[TookALevelInBadass Taken A Level In Badass.]]
* ItSucksToBeTheChosenOne: As early as the first episode she knows how much it sucks to be the Slayer: kicked out of school, losing friends, going out behind her mother's back, etc. Best summed up when her mom finds out her secret:
-->'''Buffy''': Do you think I chose to be like this? Do you have any idea how lonely it is? How dangerous? I would ''love'' to be upstairs watching TV or gossiping about boys or... God, even studying! But I have to save the world. Again.
* ItsAllAboutMe: Interesting deconstruction. She embodies this trope quite often in the early stages of an episode plot that ends with her acting selflessly, showing the constant tension between her acceptance of her duty and her still young, fragile psyche.
* JackBauerInterrogationTechnique: The time she used a cross and a vampire's burning throat and actually doing what the TropeNamer only threatened.
%%* KickChick
* KickTheDog: In the ''Angel'' episode "Sanctuary," she dips into this at the end of the episode, when she takes the time to inform Angel of her new boyfriend, and unlike what she had with Angel, she actually knows and trusts Riley. Angel promptly snaps and gives her a ''major'' tongue-lashing before ordering her to leave Los Angeles.
** Interesting because, if she were the point of view character, he would be the one Kicking The Dog by harbouring a criminal who used Buffy's body to have sex without her consent, just because he identifies with Faith and wants her to be redeemed like he wished he could be. Note [[AmbiguousSituation that his possible latent feelings for Faith and/or Buffy's unjustified jealousy in an earlier season complicate the matter further]]. For those reasons, Buffy seems to be portrayed as sympathetic and partly in the right when she returns to her own show. Overall, a great example of Angel building up not just an alternate point of view on philosophical issues compared to its sister series, but also a slightly different take on each character.
* KickTheSonOfABitch: Her beatdown of Glory in the fifth season finale counts as this. The way Glory is [[VillainousBreakdown breaking down]] near the end and tearfully begging for mercy ''almost'' compels you to feel sorry for her... until you remember that Glory had {{Mind Rape}}d Tara, threatened Buffy's family while confronting Buffy in her own home, and all in all put Buffy through a hell of a lot of pain and overall bullshit for the past year. Buffy certainly doesn't bother with pity and [[TranquilFury calmly]] beats Glory to a bloody pulp.
* LawfulStupid: She's NeutralGood for most of the series, but falls into this at times. For example, in "The Gift," despite having been shown in previous episodes to be willing to kill evil humans if necessary, she blatantly refuses to consider killing Dawn for even a second, and goes so far as to spare Ben despite full knowledge that Glory would eventually return, because "she's a hero." Never mind that at this point Dawn is going to either die or get a FateWorseThanDeath no matter what, and all that will be changed by protecting her is ensuring [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt everyone else will go down with her]].
* LethalChef: According to her sister Dawn, the only things Buffy can cook without coming close to poisoning people or setting the kitchen on fire are those foods regularly associated with Thanksgiving (turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, yam casserole, and so one) and even then, she's only good at cooking them when she's cooking them all at once ''for'' Thanksgiving.
%%* LightFeminineAndDarkFeminine: The Light to Faith's Dark.
%% LightningBruiser
* LikesOlderMen: In the last season, the MainCharacters finally comment on Buffy's tendency to date older guys. When she goes out with a man ten years older than her, Willow mentions that this is "a hundred years younger than your usual".
* MaamShock: For a different reason than normal: when Satsu calls her ma'am, Buffy remarks that she can't believe she thinks that it is hot.
* MakeSureHesDead: In the Season 2 premiere. After saving her friends from being ritually sacrificed to bring the Master BackFromTheDead, Buffy crushes the Master's skeleton to dust with a sledgehammer to ensure he'll never come back.
* TheMasqueradeWillKillYourDatingLife:
-->"Dates are things normal girls have. Girls who have time to think about nail polish and facials. You know what I think about? Ambush tactics. Beheading. Not exactly the stuff dreams are made of."
* MasterOfTheMixedMessage:
** Tells Satsu that she can't be with her romantically, but sleeps with her; twice. Poor Satsu was more than a little confused.
** With Spike in Season 6, swinging between attraction and outright rejection. Though given that Spike was at this point [[{{Gaslighting}} using Buffy's obvious PTSD and depression]] [[RomanticizedAbuse and slide into her pants...]], it is understandable that she herself can be confused.
* MayflyDecemberRomance: Both her main love interests are immortal vampires. It can be argued that ''all'' her romances will end up as this, as Slayers don't have long lifespans due to occupational hazards.
* MommyIssues: With Joyce because she had to keep the slayer thing secret. Then her mother becomes more supportive of her.
* MoralMyopia: She repeatedly insists that the Scoobies have no right to take a human life, but she herself has killed humans, actively killing Caleb and the Knights of Byzantium and trying to kill Faith to save Angel.
* MuggingTheMonster: About OnceAnEpisode. [[InvertedTrope She's the monster]].
* MurderIsTheBestSolution: When it comes to demons, Buffy, as per her job description, will inevitably slay or attempt to slay them if they do something evil no matter the circumstances. Case in point: in "Help," when Anya grants a vengeance wish that kills several frat boys, Buffy automatically decides that the only option is to kill Anya, stating outright to Xander that they can't reason with her like they did with Dark Willow because [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman Willow is a human and Anya is a demon]].
* MusclesAreMeaningless: She's not [[IncrediblyLamePun buff]] by any stretch of the imagination. She doesn't need to be -- she's the Slayer, she can throw down with anything short of an invincible BigBad or demon-human-cyborg hybrid, or PhysicalGod.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Has this twice, once in Season 6, when she learns that [[spoiler: she ''didn't'' [[CameBackWrong come back wrong]] and has been doing all sorts of horrible stuff of her own free will]], and again in Season 8 when [[spoiler: Giles is killed, magic is destroyed, and the Slayer line is ended, as a result of her [[FanNickname space frak]] with Angel.]]
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: The Slayer.
* NeverMyFault: It's rare that this trope applies to her as most of the time she's [[TheChosenOne carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders and feeling responsible for everyone and everything.]] However, it's played straight at least once in "Blood Ties," where Buffy's immediate reaction upon finding out that Spike helped Dawn break into the Magic Box is to storm off to his crypt and start to beat the crap out of him, blaming him for Dawn finding out about being the Key in the worst possible way. However, Spike quickly turns the tables on her, pointing out that not only did ''[[LockedOutOfTheLoop he]]'' [[LockedOutOfTheLoop not know that Dawn was the Key before then]], but ''[[PoorCommunicationKills Buffy]]'' [[PoorCommunicationKills was the one who kept it from her in the first place]]. When Dawn later runs away, Buffy admits that [[JerkassHasAPoint he was right]] and the whole mess is her fault.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: [[spoiler:Creating the Twilight dimension by screwing Angel, which let thousands of demons invade Earth, which resulted in the destruction of the Seed of Wonder and removed all magic from the world]].
* NotHerself: [[OnceASeason Once a season,]] beginning with her stressing over The Master, then getting over the traumatic events that ended with her killing Angel. A demon tries to steal her soul, she has to deal with her Retconned sister, she sacrifices herself to save her sister only for her friends to bring her back to life (and pull her from heaven to hell on earth) and crack under the pressure of trying to command.
%%* NotSoDifferent: Season 6 Buffy acts a little Faith-y.
* NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist: In the ''Angel'' episode "Sanctuary," Buffy chases Faith down to L.A. after her recent antics in Sunnydale, during which Faith used a device to [[BodySurf switch bodies with Buffy]] and used it to her advantage to [[PowerPerversionPotential sleep with Buffy's new boyfriend Riley]]... only to come into conflict with Angel, who's firmly convinced that Faith can be rehabilitated. At the end of the episode, when Faith turns herself in to the LAPD, Buffy insists to Angel that she came to help him because he was in danger (Faith ''had'' previously been hired by [[AmoralAttorney Wolfram & Hart]] to assassinate Angel), but Angel doesn't buy it for a second, pointing out he's in danger ''every day'', and knows she was just using that as an excuse to come to L.A. for vengeance on Faith; Buffy doesn't deny it and states outright she's [[EntitledBastard entitled to revenge]].
* NotQuiteDead: In "Prophecy Girl," after the Master bites her and leaves her to drown in a puddle of water. Xander is able to revive her with [[CPRCleanPrettyReliable CPR]]; nonetheless, as revealed in "What's My Line," Buffy being NotQuiteDead was enough for the next Slayer, Kendra, to be called.
* ObliviousToLove:
** Seeing her on her first day at Sunnydale High caused Xander to fall head over heels, literally, as he crashes into a railing. Buffy, however, is completely clueless as to his feelings until he asks her to the dance in the season finale. Then in ''Season 8'', when Buffy's loneliness and need for stability compels her to go to Xander. Xander declines, having long since decided he and Buffy are BetterAsFriends.
** Despite Spike's StalkerWithACrush behaviour, she only realizes what's happening when Dawn points it out.
* OlderHeroVsYoungerVillain: She's the older hero to Simone Doffler's younger villain. It's even lampshaded during one of their confrontations.
-->'''Buffy''': I've been doing this longer than you. Which means I'm more experienced, so you're done.\\
'''Simone''': And I'm younger than you. Which means I'm faster, so you're f@%ed.
* OnlyAFleshWound: In the GrandFinale, she gets stabbed in the gut straight through. After a few minutes, she gets back up and keeps fighting.
* OnlyMostlyDead: In "Prophecy Girl," after the Master drowned her. Xander revived her with CPR.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: If she ever willingly kills or attempts to kill another human being, you know things are getting bad.
* PersonAsVerb: The inimitable Buffyspeak.
* PintsizedPowerhouse: Who knew a highschool girl could pack such a punch?
* PlatonicLifePartners: With Xander eventually. To get there he had to get over his crush on her and she had to stop thinking of him as a simple 'friend'.
* PunishedForSympathy: Goes out of her way to be kind and welcoming to Faith, even tries to help Faith after her StartOfDarkness only to have Faith try to kill her/ruin her life multiple times. By the ''Angel'' episode "Sanctuary," Buffy has finally gotten sick of it.
* PromotionToParent: After Joyce's death Buffy is forced to take over the parenting of Dawn.
* RageAgainstTheReflection: Her attempts to rediscover her passion in a DestructiveRomance with Spike during Season 6 only make things worse. When Buffy (incorrectly) thinks she has murdered an innocent woman, she savagely beats an unresisting Spike, describing him in terms that clearly mirror her own fears over what she has become.
--> "You don't have a soul! There is nothing good or clean in you. You are dead inside! You can't feel anything real!"
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: In the final issue of Season 9, she dishes one out to the newly vampirized Simone before staking her.
-->'''Buffy''': I let you steal my Slayers. I let you twist what we were all about. I let you terrorize too many people. But now... now you've turned yourself into everything I'm not. And I'm going to stop you.\\
'''Simone''': Good luck. The Scythe is mine.\\
'''Buffy''': No. It's ''mine''. [''stakes Simone''] And I'm sorry I ever used it to make ''you'' a Slayer.
* RefusalOfTheCall: She comes to Sunnydale to get away from her delinquent reputation and Slayer responsibilities, and is not happy to find a Watcher already in place waiting for her.
* RelativeButton: Do not threaten her little sister, Dawn.
* ReluctantWarrior: She didn't like her slayer duties and specially during the high school seasons. Giles has to do everything short of grabbing her by the hair.
* ResurrectionSickness: Upon her resurrection in Season 6, Buffy is initially disoriented and out of it for a while, and is depressed and self-destructive until the sixth season finale. Of course, it's largely because she was ripped out of Heaven and had to [[RiseFromYourGrave claw her way out of her own grave]].
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Provoked by Faith stealing Buffy's body, and her boyfriend too. Once back in her own skin, Buffy becomes a bloodhound, chasing Faith all the way to Los Angeles with vengeance in mind, only to form an EnemyMine with Faith to fight off the Watchers' Council black ops and be satisfied by Faith's voluntary incarceration.
* RousingSpeech: Pointed out in Season 7 that she's really good at this. She once gave a RousingSpeech to a telephone repairman. It's averted in "The Gift", much to the bemusement of fellow Brits Giles and Spike, who were expecting something more Shakespearean.
* SexGoddess: At least twice in Season 4, it's suggested that Buffy's superhuman physical abilities translate to bedroom prowess; both her one-night stand Parker and Faith, who steals her body in a GrandTheftMe plot, comment explicitly on the matter. In Season 6 Spike mentions having sex for five hours straight and raves about what an animal she is; he specifically mentions biting -- coming from a vampire, that's an impressive recommendation!
* ShesGotLegs: They get a good showing in "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered".
* SheIsNotMyGirlfriend[=/=]HeIsNotMyBoyfriend: Says this word for word to Willow about Satsu and a RunningGag with Spike before, during and after their relationship.
* ShellShockedVeteran: Coming back from the dead is no picnic, as Buffy is to discover twice.
** Arguably, she's already this by "Welcome to the Hellmouth." She'd already had a year of being the Slayer under her belt, during which time, she'd been expelled from school, had her first Watcher die on her, lost all her friends, and, if "Normal Again" is to be believed, was institutionalized by her parents. Yeah, it's not as bad as dying and coming back to life, but keep in mind that Buffy is only 16 at the start of the show.
* SiblingRivalry: Sometimes with her sister Dawn.
* SpeakIllOfTheDead: In Season 7, when Chloe is DrivenToSuicide by the First, Buffy explicitly calls her a weak moron for quitting when things got tough.
* StarCrossedLovers: With Angel, the ensouled vampire that kills other vampires.
%%* StreetSmart
* StrongAndSkilled: Buffy's largely TaughtByExperience. She has the superpowers that come with being [[TheChosenOne the Slayer]], and is the oldest, longest-lived one, having achieved numerous victories over such beings as vampires, demons, {{cyborg}}s, and even {{Physical God}}s; by the time of Season 5, she's able to defeat groups of almost 20 vampires by herself.
* SuperStrength: Increased strength is one of her slayer powers.
* TakeAThirdOption: When faced with the painful choice of saving her little sister Dawn, or letting her walk into and close the dimensional tear that had been opened with her blood (which would result in her death), Buffy instead chose to throw herself into the tear to close it since they had the same blood (Dawn had originally been created using some of Buffy's essence, therefore they literally shared the same blood).
* TeensAreShort: Creator/SarahMichelleGellar is a good five inches shorter than the actress playing her mother, and eventually ends up shorter than her 'little' sister.
* ThouShaltNotKill: She acknowledges that [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters humans can be just as bad, if not even worse, than demons]], but ''flat-out refuses'' to take a human life. Of course, she makes exceptions from time to time, and in Season 6, the main reason she's against Willow killing Warren for killing Tara is because [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim she doesn't want her best friend to become a murderer]].
* TookALevelInBadass: In Season 1, she was barely capable of taking on more than two vampires at a time. By Season 5, she's holding her own against entire ''groups'' of vamps.
* TookALevelInJerkass: As a result of [[ThereAreNoTHerapists severe PTSD and depression,]] she jumped into {{Jerkass}} territory with both feet after killing The Master, and slides into this after her [[CameBackWrong resurrection]]. This eventually leads to a WhatTheHellHero from the others, particularly in Season 7, where she's kicked out of her house for being too bossy around the girls under her care. Then there is the Anya incident again.
* TraumaButton: In early Season 7, it's clear that Spike's AttemptedRape of her has left scars. Simply touching his hand by accident in "Beneath You" causes her to flash back to that moment, and in "Him," Spike unexpectedly touching her arm startles her. Even years later, during Season 10, she still has some troubles with it despite having long since forgiven and accepted Spike; in "Triggers," Spike unexpectedly entering the bathroom while she's showering causes her to instinctively kick him into a wall.
* UltimateJobSecurity: It's a RunningGag in Season 7 that she's a terrible guidance counselor and was only hired because Principal Wood knew she was the Slayer and about the Hellmouth; whenever she mentions her "skills" at the job, the person she's talking to laughs or otherwise looks amused, and whenever she's talking to a student, she often gets distracted and doesn't listen to what the student is saying. The only reason she ultimately gets fired from the job is so she can devote all of her attention to the war with the First.
* UnderestimatingBadassery: In regards to Warren in Season 6; she explicitly dismisses him as nothing but a "pain in her ass" and doesn't take him seriously... until he accidentally kills his ex-girlfriend Katrina and uses time-warping demons to dupe Buffy into thinking she did it; only a last-minute BatDeduction after hearing Katrina's body being identified at the police station stopped Buffy from taking the fall for Warren's mistake. From that moment on, Buffy realizes how dangerous Warren really is and makes it a point to bring him to justice.
* UnwantedRevival: In Season 6, Willow brings Buffy back to life after her demise at the end of Season 5. Buffy was in Heaven and at peace, and is ''not'' happy to be alive again. It takes the entire season for her to get past it.
* UnresolvedSexualTension:
** With Angel because they CantHaveSexEver.
** With Spike. After their relationship fell apart in Season 6, they spent most of Season 7 walking on eggshells despite still obviously having feelings. Then circumstances were such they had to go their separate ways and didn't reunite until Season 9...at which point they still failed to resolve anything. Finally resolved in Season 10, where they get back together.
* UpbringingMakesTheHero: DiscussedTrope with her comparisons to DarkActionGirl Faith. Losing any strong family figures (Joyce's death, Giles leaving) proves the trope correct.
* ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend: Never ever ever ''ever'' harm her boyfriends. Not even Giles is safe from her wrath, as he finds out when he tries to kill Spike in Season 7.
* VitriolicBestBuds: With Faith in the third season up until Faith [[FaceHeelTurn joined the Dark Side.]]
* WaifFu: The extremely petite Buffy certainly doesn't ''look'' like she'd be able to roundhouse kick a marauding demon across a room.
* WakeUpGoToSchoolSaveTheWorld: Early seasons were split between Buffy's slayer duties and her studies/dating life.
* WeaknessTurnsHerOn: She quite enjoys [[FlorenceNightingaleEffect nursing Angel back to health]], and says that Riley looked "even cuter when all weak and kitteny". In the Season 8 comics, we discover one of Buffy's sexual fantasies involves Angel and Spike chained to her, with Buffy dressed in a NaughtyNurseOutfit.
* WeaponOfChoice: The [[BoringButPractical simple wooden stake]], even against non-vampires. What else would a slayer prefer? She even has a crossbow for them.
* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: Usually avoids killing humans, but will readily take out evil demons or just demons in general. Case in point: when Willow turns evil and kills Warren in Season 6, Buffy tries her very best to help her and worries for her sake more than for the people she's trying to kill. When Anya grants a wish that kills several frat boys in Season 7, Buffy immediately decides that MurderIsTheBestSolution and Anya can't be reasoned with like Willow simply because Willow is human and Anya isn't; never mind the fact that Dark Willow was trying to destroy the planet ''[[PutThemAllOutOfMyMisery out of spite]]'', whereas Anya was clearly horrified and remorseful over what she had done.
* WhatTheHellHero: EVERYONE freaks out on her (Xander, Willow, and Joyce in particular) when she comes back from running away at the end of Season 2, to the point where she wants to run away again. Willow and a group of zombies crashing her house keeps her from doing so, [[FireForgedFriends much to everyone's relief]]. They have the same reaction in Season 3 on discovering that Angel (last seen as Angelus) has returned and Buffy has been keeping it secret. Also, in Season 7, Buffy is kicked out of her house for her DrillSergeantNasty attitude and [[TheNeidermeyer crappy leadership skills and decisions]].
* WhoNamesTheirKidDude: Many characters (heroic and villainous) wonder what kind of parents name their kid "Buffy"[[note]]A phonetic diminutive of the name Elizabeth, taken from how the ending of the name is spoken -- "Eh-liza-buff".[[/note]]. Some assume it's a nickname.
* WorfHadTheFlu: Her poor performance against the original Turok-Han during the first two fights is in part because she had gone without sleep for ''two days solid''. After the first encounter, Giles explicitly ''told'' her she should get some sleep, but Buffy refused. Of course, even after resting and recovering, Buffy has a hard time dealing with the Turok-Han and has to use literally ''everything'' she can get her hands on to take it down.
* WrestlerInAllOfUs: Buffy uses a Frankensteiner at least once.
* YouFightLikeACow: The ability to snark during combat is highly valued in a Slayer.
* YouAreWorthHell: Spike certainly thought so, and was nearly killed in the process of earning his soul back. Conversely, Angel turned down a chance to become human again rather than risk her dying on his watch.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Willow]]
!!Willow Rosenberg
->'''Played By:''' Creator/AlysonHannigan & Creator/AdamBusch
[[quoteright:250:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/41455bf180b993303ba7d73ed6605fdd.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:250:''"Oh, I don't get wild. Wild on me equals spaz."'']]
[[caption-width-right:250:[[labelnote:Click here]]http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/839212416aef0fa90e623ba89e74f3a4.jpg[[/labelnote]] to see Dark Willow]]

-->''"You're the Slayer and we're, like, the Slayerettes!"''

Wallflower and Buffy's best friend. Started out as the [[TheSmartGuy book-smart girl]], but gradually became an extremely powerful witch, giving her newfound confidence -- and hubris. Willow realized she was a lesbian after falling in love with another woman in Season 4, and is one of the most recognized lesbian characters in fiction.
----
* ActionGirl: Anyone who manages to inflict pain on a ''goddess'' deserves this title.
* AddictiveMagic: A big part of her character arc in Season 6, where magic is treated as a ''very'' clear metaphor for drug abuse.
* {{Adorkable}}: Probably has the most of this out of the core four, especially in the early seasons where she's shy and quietly pining after Xander.
* AdrenalineMakeover: Started out nerdy, shy and fairly weak, but as the show went on, she gradually became more [[HotWitch assertive, powerful and hot]].
* AfraidOfTheirOwnStrength: After the Dark Willow fiasco at the end of Season 6, she spends most of Season 7 terrified of using her magic out of fear of losing control again.
* AllWitchesHaveCats: Miss Kitty Fantastico!
* AndStarring: Starting in Season 6. It's pretty jarring.
* ArmorPiercingSlap: See MotiveRant below.
* TheAtoner: at the beginning of Season 7 because of the Dark Willow thing.
%%* BadassAdorable: In the later seasons.
%% Putting a trope into a secondary bullet of another trope is against the Examples Indentation rules.
* BadassBookworm: Studying magic leads to beating up monsters that give the Slayer trouble.
* BadassGay: a lesbian, and one of the most powerful Wiccans ever.
* BerserkButton: Do not hurt Tara. If you do, you might survive...if you're a god. Otherwise, best to check if you still have an epidermis. She tends to remove them.
* BestWoman: At Xander and Anya's wedding, Willow is Xander's best "man".
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Hints are given throughout the series of a more darker side to Willow's ShrinkingViolet nature -- her liking for revenge, her childlike petulance, her anger at being an ExtremeDoormat or mere {{Sidekick}} leading to a desire for power through magic (and a complete irresponsibility in its use) -- all culminating in tragedy at the end of Season 6 with the arrival of Dark!Willow.
-->[[PreMortemOneLiner "Bored now."]]
* BigBlackout: Dark Willow fuses out lights wherever she goes.
* BlackEyesOfEvil: The dark arts cause Willow's irises to turn black. It also [[PowerDyesYourHair darkens her hair]], causing to complain that she can't get any work done without getting dark roots.
* BreakTheCutie: [[spoiler: After her girlfriend was mindfucked.]]
* CannotSpitItOut: Behaves like this toward Xander in Season 1 just like how he does with Buffy.
%%* TheChick:
* ChildhoodFriendRomance: Played with. She pines after Xander but when she and he do get together, she decides she doesn't want him. Then, when she was in a rut with Oz, she discovered that she prefers Tara.
* ClippedWingAngel: After [[spoiler: Tara]] was mindsucked, Willow got amped up on magic, attacked Glory and succeeded in hurting her... for a few seconds. Then she got her ass beat.
* ColdBloodedTorture: In "Villains," she does this to Warren, using the very same bullet he shot Buffy with and slowly driving it into his chest with telekinesis.
* CorruptTheCutie: Dark Magic addiction turned her evil and then filled with angst.
* CovertPervert: She calls out other women for their forthright views on sex, and yet [[HypocriticalHumor she's the one who suggests orgies, group sex, kinky fun and other various forms of entertainment.]]
* CradleOfLoneliness: Does this with Tara's clothes when Tara breaks up with her in Season 6.
%%* CuteBookworm
%%* CuteWitch
%%* TheCutie
* {{Depower}}: [[spoiler:With the destruction of the Seed of Wonder]].
* DefiantToTheEnd: After getting her ass kicked by Glory during her ill-fated RoaringRampageOfRevenge, Willow defiantly [[SpitefulSpit spits in her face]].
* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: Does a better job at this than even Buffy, having punched out several legitimate gods. Buffy punches out the invincible, Willow punches out ''gods''.
* DoesNotUnderstandSarcasm: "Cibo Matto can clog dance!?"
* EasilyForgiven: For her rampage as Dark Willow. True, she was hopped up on BlackMagic at the time, but Willow ''chose'' to absorb said BlackMagic of her own volition to begin with.
* EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette: Dark Willow because of the evil magic thing.
* EverybodyWasKungFuFighting: Dark Willow comes with SheFu skills that she uses in her fight with Buffy.
* EvilMakeover:
-->'''Xander:''' And can I just ask, what's with the Make-Over of the Damned?
* EvilMeScaresMe: The way Willow feels about the "Doppelgangland" Willow, and her own DarkSide in Season 7. It's to the point where she starts going dark again in the "Family Reunion" arc in ''Angel & Faith'', she nearly freaks out, and Angel has to comfort her and calm her down:
-->'''Willow''': Angel, I can't! Please, I can't fight! Not now...\\
'''Angel''': It's going to be okay.\\
'''Willow''': No! You don't know me [[SuperpoweredEvilSide like this]]! It's never okay!\\
'''Angel''': Willow, it will be. I promise you. I need you to trust me. I know that's hard, after Twilight, after everything, but please, Willow. Can you trust me?\\
'''Willow''': I... I... yes. But I don't trust ''me''.
* EvilSoundsDeep: Overlaps with CompellingVoice.
-->'''GetOut'''.
* FaceHeelTurn: Towards the end of Season 6. She gets better in the nick of time.
* FallenHero: Magic high leads to Dark!Willow. There was also an AlternateUniverse book trilogy ("''Wicked Willow''") that explored what would have happened if she had stayed that way. The canonical Season 8 comic books state she is still this; specifically the "Time of Your Life" arc. In the Season 9 comics, we learn that while she is holding it together around Buffy, Willow is hell bent on bringing magic back, believing the world is going to end and she has to save it.
%%* FanServicePack
* FinalBoss: [[spoiler:In Season 6 as Dark Willow]]
* FromNobodyToNightmare: See ''Beware the Nice Ones''. Jonathan, having known her almost as long as Buffy and Xander, can hardly believe she's the same person by the end of Season 6.
* FunctionalAddict: In Season 6, she [[AddictiveMagic becomes addicted to magic]], and during the second-to-last episode, after killing Warren and going after his cohorts in prison, Buffy explicitly mentions this:
-->'''Buffy''': Willow's got an addictive personality. She just tasted blood.
%%* GirlNextDoor
* GoshDarnItToHeck: "Why else would she be acting like a B-I-T-C-H?"
* HardWorkHardlyWorks: Amy's motivation for hating uber-witch Willow by the seventh season.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Buffy, even after coming out as a lesbian. In Season 6, Buffy makes it clear to her social worker that she and Willow are ''not'' a couple.
* HijackedByGanon: [[spoiler:Dark Willow reappears in the ''Time of Your Life'' arc of Season 8.]]
* HollywoodHacking: Before becoming a witch, Willow's ability with computers was a great asset to the team. She could hack into computer systems, secret government files, and eventually even city power grids. For a short time when she was afraid to use magic, she returned to using her computer hacking to help out the team. At one point, she even ''combined'' her magic powers and computer hacking in order to tap into the Internet, being able to locate information faster since she could see it in her mind.
* HollywoodNerd: In high school, Willow often wore unflattering clothes like big sweaters, but she was still very pretty since she was played by Alyson Hannigan. Eventually she became more confident and started dressing better.
* HotForTeacher: Its mentioned that Willow developed a crush on Giles during series one, even having a photo of him in her locker.
%%* HotWitch
* IntelligenceEqualsIsolation: At the beginning, she was as nerdy and bookish as it gets and was rewarded with a heaping help of scorn from the cool kids. You can imagine what it meant to her when Buffy came into her life.
* InformedJudaism: She mentions celebrating Hanukkah, and outright calls herself Jewish on multiple occasions.
* InvincibleVillain: As Dark Willow
* IsThisWhatAngerFeelsLike: Which hilariously carried over to her vampire counterpart. "I don't like you!"
* JerkassHasAPoint: While Dark Willow's BreakingSpeech to Buffy in "Two to Go" is harsh, there's no denying that she makes a valid point in said speech, since Buffy herself admitted that she was happier when dead and finds it so difficult to be alive again.
%%* JewishAndNerdy
* JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope: As Dark Willow during the final few episodes of Season 6. She goes from [[PayEvilUntoEvil killing]] [[AssholeVictim Warren]] for shooting Tara, to trying to [[MisplacedRetribution kill the other members of the Trio who had nothing to do with it]], to hurting/trying to hurt Buffy, Dawn, Giles, and Anya, the last of whom actually sympathized with her before then, to trying to destroy the world to "[[PutThemAllOutOfMyMisery end all pain]]." All of this is within the span a couple of episodes that, together, take place over less than a single day.
* KickTheMoralityPet:
** In Season 6, her downward spiral into magic addiction ultimately leads to her crashing her car with Dawn in the passenger seat; Dawn suffers a broken arm as a result and is so pissed at Willow for her actions that she responds to Willow's tearful apology with an ArmorPiercingSlap. The sheer guilt of this incident is what convinces Willow to quit magic completely.
** Later, as Dark Willow, she's so far gone that she actively attacks the other Scoobies simply for trying to stop her from killing Andrew and Jonathan, even threatening to turn Dawn back into an EnergyBall simply to [[TakeThatScrappy put an end to her constant whining]].
-->'''Buffy''': You're hurting the people who love you now?\\
'''Willow''': Only the ones in my way.
* LesbianVampire: Vamp Willow, more accurately a DepravedBisexual.
* LightIsGood: Bright white haired Willow from the last episode of Season 7.
* LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards: By the finale, Willow is considerably more powerful than Buffy, and is one of the most powerful witches on earth.
* LipstickLesbian: From Season 4 onwards. "I'm not good with the butch."
* LiteralMinded: "Music/{{KISS}} Rocks? Why would anyone want to kiss-- oh."
* LoveMakesYouEvil: Her Season 6 addiction to magic planted the seeds, but it was [[spoiler: Warren murdering Tara]] that pushed her over the edge into Dark Willow. She's later brought back to normal thanks to ThePowerOfFriendship.
* MagicMisfire: Several times:
** In "Doppelgangland," she accidentally sets her vampiric counterpart from the Wishverse loose in Sunnydale.
** In "Triangle," she tries to make magical sunlight to help Buffy kill vampires, but a resulting argument with Anya instead frees Olaf the Troll.
** In "Tabula Rasa," she tries to cast a memory-wiping spell to make Buffy and Tara forget the negative effects of the spells she used on them. Instead, the spell ends up completely mind-wiping the entire Scooby Gang, including Willow herself.
%%* TheMedic[=/=]CombatMedic: During Season 8.
* MisplacedRetribution: In Season 6. After exacting her revenge on Warren, Willow promptly decided to try to kill his accomplices Jonathan and Andrew, who were in prison at the time and had absolutely nothing to do with it. While the Scoobies (sans Buffy) were so disgusted and furious with Warren that they rallied behind Willow en masse with her intent to kill, they all agree that Jonathan and Andrew don't deserve Willow's wrath.
* MostDefinitelyNotAVillain: Regular Willow and Vampire Willow, when impersonating each other in "Doppelgangerland".
* MotiveRant: In the "Family Reunion" arc of ''Angel & Faith'', when Angel [[WhatTheHellHero calls her out]] on wanting to involve Connor in her plans to restore magic, Willow loses it, bitch-slaps him, and calls him out on his ways before breaking down about how Earth is becoming a CrapsackWorld without magic:
-->"Don't you dare. Don't you ''dare'' try to say I'm like you! This is ''all your fault''! Thinking you can fix things! Running blindly down any road that might lead to redemption! And you're doing it ''again''! Never worrying about the consequences until it's too late! You've ruined ''everything'', Angel!!" ({{beat}}) "Can't you see what we're missing? How empty the world is? There hasn't been a decent song, movie or book, since we lost the Seed! [[DrivenToSuicide Suicide rates are spiking!]] All over the world people are losing hope! It's just starting! It only gets worse from here! The world's dying and nobody will admit it! I need to save it. There's nothing more important. Why doesn't anyone understand...?"
* MurderIsTheBestSolution:
** After going Dark Willow in the final few episodes of Season 6, she is adamant that Warren needs to die for shooting Tara despite Buffy repeatedly insisting that they don't kill humans and there are other options. On top of it all, Xander and Dawn are so disgusted and furious with Warren that they declare him to be [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters just as bad as any vampire or demon Buffy's slain]] and fully support Willow's intent to kill... at least until the minute she actually goes through with it.
** Furthermore, when she gets a power boost and hears "the suffering of all mankind" in an attempt to bring her back to her senses (in a "YouAreNotAlone, people have to weather loved ones dying constantly" way), she instead decides that [[PutThemAllOutOfMyMisery destroying the world to end all of humanity's pain is a better course of action]].
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Her reaction in Season 6,upon discovering that rather than saving Buffy from Hell when she resurrected her, she actually pulled her out of Heaven.
-->'''Willow''': We took her away from that. We wrecked it for her.\\
'''Xander''': We didn't wreck. We didn't know.\\
'''Willow''': We didn't ''want'' to know. We were so selfish. ''I'' was so selfish.
* NerdsLoveToughSchoolwork: Ooh! Ooh! Study Party!
-->'''Xander:''' You need a life in the worst way.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Willow's decision to resurrect Buffy in Season 6 disrupted the magic protecting the Slayer line, which allowed the First Evil to embark on its infamous Slayer/Potential Slayer genocide in Season 7.
* NoBisexuals: Turns gay and stays that way, despite having dated guys in the earlier seasons.
* OfCorsetsSexy: Vamp Willow.
-->'''Willow''': It's a little binding. I guess vampires really don't have to breathe. [[BuxomIsBetter Gosh look at those.]]
* OhMyGods: For the love of Hecate!
* ParentalNeglect: To the point of not noticing a new haircut for four months. The extent of their neglect verges on FridgeLogic when you consider that the episode establishing their neglectfulness came about a half-season ''after'' a bookcase had fallen on her and briefly landed her in a wheelchair. You'd think if anything would make them pay attention...
* PayEvilUntoEvil: Her murder of Warren, which consisted of her telekinetically driving a bullet into his chest and ultimately [[FlayingAlive skinning him alive]] while he begged for mercy; while Buffy simply [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman can't condone killing a human for any reason]], considering the fact that Warren was a blatant StrawMisogynist who fatally shot Tara, tried to kill Buffy herself more than once, and already killed his ex-girlfriend before then, Anya, Xander, and Dawn are all so disgusted with him that they rally behind Willow's decision to do so. Xander sums it up best:
-->'''Xander''': Warren was a cold-blooded killer of women just warming up. If you ask me, the bastard got what was coming to him.
* PersonOfMassDestruction: Is so stricken by grief she decides to bring about the Apocalypse and end the world's pain.
%%* PlatonicLifePartners: With Xander
* PowerStrainBlackout: She often collapses after overdoing the spellcasting, or experiences a PsychicNosebleed.
%%* ProgressivelyPrettier
* PromotionToParent: She's Dawn's favorite person; Dawn treats her and Tara [[HasTwoMommies like parents]], and in the Season 8 comics, Dawn says "Will is like a Mom to me."
* ProtagonistJourneyToVillain: What her arc in Season 6 leads up to, culminating in Dark Willow. In fact, hints are given throughout the series of a more darker side to Willow's ShrinkingViolet nature — her taste for revenge, her childlike petulance, her anger at being an ExtremeDoormat or mere {{Sidekick}} leading to a desire for power through magic coupled with a total irresponsibility in its use.
%%* PsychoLesbian: Dark Willow, natch.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Along with the MotiveRant above, she gives out one to Faith in Season 3, especially since Faith was more prepared for an "it's not too late to turn back" speech:
-->'''Willow''': Faith, wait. I wanna talk to you.
-->'''Faith''': Oh yeah? Give me the speech again, please. "Faith, we're still your friends. We can help you. It's not too late."
-->'''Willow''': It's ''way'' too late. You know, it didn't have to be this way. But you made your choice. I know you had a tough life. I know that some people think you had a lot of bad breaks. Well, boo hoo. Poor you. You know, you had a lot more in your life than some people. I mean, you had friends like Buffy. Now you have no one. You were a Slayer and now you're nothing. You're just a big, selfish, worthless waste.
* RedIsHeroic: She has red hair, and is one of the main protagonists.
* RedheadsAreUncool: She is presented as a bookish nerd with considerable computer skills, dowdily dressed and easily intimidated by more popular girls in school. Willow becomes much more confident in college, finally finding a place that respects her intellect, and to show that, she has embraced the redness of her hair by having dyed it a brighter red.
%%* RelationshipReveal: With Tara in the fourth season.
* TheReliableOne: Buffy explicitly calls her this at one point. Which is part of why her behavior in Season 6 was so shocking.
* TheResenter: "Six years as a side man, now I get to be The Slayer."
%%* RetroactiveWish: Almost a RunningGag with her ("Dead Man's Party", "Beer Bad" and "Triangle").
* RevengeBeforeReason: In Season 5, she goes after Glory in a rage after Glory {{Mind Rape}}s Tara, ignoring Buffy's warnings and reminders that Glory is a PhysicalGod and she stands no chance against her. While Willow ''does'' manage to [[CurbstompCushion cause Glory pain and weaken her somewhat]], she ultimately goes down and is only saved from certain death when Buffy shows up JustInTime.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Two.
** After Glory "[[MindRape brain-sucks]]" Tara in Season 5, Willow is so pissed off that she attacks Glory in her own home, and manages to both cause Glory pain and weaken her somewhat before getting [[CurbStompBattle curb-stomped]]; if Buffy hadn't shown up when she did, Willow would've been toast.
** On a much bigger scale in Season 6; when Warren [[VillainousBreakdown flips out]] and shoots Buffy and Tara (the latter accidentally), killing the latter, Willow, still recovering from her addiction to dark magic, suffers a relapse, personally hunts him down, and skins him alive, and ''all'' the Scoobies except Buffy herself back her up because they're so disgusted with Warren. However, Willow then proceeds to go after [[MisplacedRetribution Jonathan and Andrew]], who were in prison at the time and had nothing to do with it, which eventually spirals into a SuicidalCosmicTemperTantrum that Xander just barely manages to talk her down from.
* ScrewYourself: In "Doppelgangland," Vamp Willow openly flirts with her human counterpart and even gropes her.
* SecretlySelfish: During the Season 9 comics, she becomes obsessed with finding a way to restore magic to Earth, convinced that the world is dying without magic and needs it to survive. Over the course of the ''Willow: Wonderland'' miniseries, Willow eventually realizes and confesses that she actually just wanted magic back so she could feel powerful again.
-->'''Willow''': ...Maybe just a couple of sads. My friends need me. At least, I keep telling myself they need me. The truth is... when I think about now, they seemed to be doing fine. I'm the one who was falling apart. Without magic, I'm back to being part hacker, part hostage, while my superpeeps kick evil's butt. I was so convinced the world needed magic. That life on Earth is fundamentally missing something. But maybe... maybe it was just me.
* SexIsCool: Responds with an awed "Wow!" when Buffy decides [[WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong she's going to have sex with Angel]], and is eager to start smoochies with Oz, given she's a socially-outcast nerd who never had a boyfriend before.
* ShrinkingViolet: In the first few seasons because of a lack of self-confidence and inability to spit it out to Xander
%%* TheSmartGuy
* SoapboxSadie: Originally protested Thanksgiving because it was all about death. Also in the Season 6 Halloween episode goes off on a tirade on a customer wearing a witch costume.
* StepfordSmiler: By series' end, she could wipe out the human race with a snap of her finger, which she sometimes [[GallowsHumor makes light of]]. Realizing the threat she poses to her loved ones, she hammers on the {{moeblob}} mask and wears it to the end -- but she's clearly not the same person we knew.
* StockSuperpowers: She starts displaying a ton in Season 8 with her magic.
** DishingOutDirt
** {{Flight}}
** HandBlast
** HealingHands
** PlayingWithFire
** TeleportersAndTransporters
* StupidSexyFriend: Willow finally gets together with Xander. It's when they're both with other people.
* SuperStrength: After casting a spell on herself, she's able to take on Buffy and win.
* SuicidalCosmicTemperTantrum: When Giles tricks her into absorbing magic from him that puts her in touch with all of humanity's pain, Willow, either because the world just [[CrapsackWorld sucks so much]] or because she's in no mood to think of the positives, decides to destroy the world to end all of said pain. Fortunately, Xander shows up JustInTime and talks her down from it.
* SuperpoweredEvilSide: During early Season 7, especially the scene in "Selfless" where she reverts to her evil personality for a few seconds while fending off a spider demon.
* SweaterGirl: Season 3 Willow.
-->'''Vamp Willow (looking Willow over)''': Well, look at me. I'm all fuzzy.
* SympathyForTheDevil: Her attitude towards the [[RestrainingBolt chipped Spike]] in Season 4, to the extent that she refuses to let him stake himself in "Doomed." This is especially noticeable compared to Buffy and Xander, who not only have NoSympathy for Spike, but actively enjoy taunting him.
* TeenGenius: Has enough book smarts to keep up with Giles ''and'' she's a computer wizard on top of that.
* TeensAreShort: Much like Buffy she's at least a head shorter than the actress playing her mother.
* TemptingFate: A RunningGag with her.
** "Dead Man's Party": ''Talking about it isn't helping. We might as well try some violence.'' (zombies crash into the house) ''I was just kidding!''
** "Beer Bad": ''Men haven't changed since the beginning of time.'' (cavemen burst in)
** "Triangle": ''I wish Buffy were here.'' (Buffy enters)
** "Two to Go": ''There's no one on in the world who has the power to stop me now.'' (Giles blasts her with a fireball)
* ThatManIsDead: Dark Willow talks about Willow as if she were a different person.
* ThisIsYourBrainOnEvil: Especially due to magic being used as a FantasticDrug metaphor.
* TookALevelInBadass: From being the show's main DistressedDamsel to the most powerful character of the group. For almost two seasons, other characters had discussed how powerful Willow was becoming as a witch. Then she goes and becomes the first character in the series to cause [[PhysicalGod Glory]] pain.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Mocha coffee.
* TragicBromance: Her refusal to lose Buffy pushes her to take more risks with magic than ever before. The resurrection leaves her so high off success that she responds to Giles' concern with threats, setting most of her Season 6 arc into motion. In Season 8, she admits that she believes that had she not brought Buffy back, Tara wouldn't have died; nonetheless, in ''Angel & Faith'', she insists to Angel that despite everything that happened as a result, she has ''never'' regretted bringing Buffy back.
* TrainingTheGiftOfMagic: After Season 6 and for the first few episodes of Season 7 she undergoes a 'recovery course' with the Devon Coven in England at Giles' behest. Though a slightly odd version of this trope, given that Willow was already a powerful and capable magician, it's strongly implied that by embracing the Coven's philosophy on magic (a more Zen-ish, earth-based approach, in contrast to her previous reliance on raw power) she comes back a much better, or at least much more mature, witch.
* TranquilFury: In the case of hunting down The Trio. Although very enraged, she almost never raised her voice beyond a venomous half-whisper and aside from a few occasions was TheStoic for the whole ordeal. The most noticeable bit was her torturing and flaying alive a begging Warren without breaking her calm demeanour, even going so far as to say "Bored now" before killing him.
* UnstoppableRage: Willow goes into one when Glory sucks Tara's mind, and again when Warren [[spoiler:shoots and kills Tara]].
* VigilanteWoman: Kills Warren (whom everyone figures deserves it) and tries to kill Andrew and Jonathan, even though they're only guilty by association.
* VillainousWidowsPeak: Willow wears one naturally. It becomes this once she morphs into Dark Willow.
%%* VillainTeleportation
* WickedWitch: As Dark Willow, because of the magic addiction and power madness. Anya calls her the most powerful Wicca in the Western Hemisphere, which of course would make her the [[OffToSeeTheWizard Wicked Witch of the West]].
* WhatTheHellHero:
** In Season 6, Dawn slaps her after almost killing her in a car crash and Tara leaves her after she [[MindRape screwed with Tara's head]] and broke her promise to avoid magic for a week when she couldn't last a day.
** During ''Angel and Faith's'' "Family Reunion" arc, Willow and Angel give one to each other. She wants him to use his son to bring magic back. He's not willing to take such a risk:
-->'''Angel''': "You want me to find the son [[DisappearedDad I've never been there for]] and ruin the life he's built. Ask him to go back to the hell he grew up in because of me. For some wild goose chase. Something that's not even possible. Here ''I'' was ashamed to see ''you''."
** In general she's incredibly reckless with magic, until the events of Season 6. First Tara calls her on it, then her nearly destroying the world forces her to treat magic with a lot more caution.
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Suffers from Ranidaphobia.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: In Season 6, after Tara's death and her murder of Warren, Willow decides to destroy the world to end her own pain and everyone else's. She's thankfully stopped from that.
* YouAreInCommandNow: Took charge of the Scoobies when Buffy was absent or incapacitated such as between Seasons 2-3 and 5-6.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Xander]]
!!Alexander [=LaVelle=] "Xander" Harris
[[quoteright:250:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/92418bb8688610312c7ee8f77981746f.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:250:''"I laugh in the face of danger! Then I... hide until it goes away."'']]
->'''Played By:''' Nicholas Brendon & Kelly Donovan

-->''"Whatever you choose, you've got my support. Just think of me as... as your... You know, I'm searching for supportive things and I'm coming up all bras. So, something slightly more manly, think of me as that."''

Buffy's other best friend. Unlike Willow, Xander never gained any powers (apart from some military training). He had a crush on Buffy early on.
----
* AbusiveParents: Not explicitly abusive ''per se'', but they're definitely not loving parents. His father is also, at least verbally and emotionally, abusive of his mother, and on one occasion tried to sell him to some Armenians. It's also noted that every Christmas, Xander sleeps outside so as not to deal with his drunken family.
* AccidentalPornomancer: Both girls he hooked up with ([[ReallyGetsAround Faith]] and [[LovableSexManiac Anya]]) propositioned ''him'', without Xander being able to get a word in edgewise and neither willing to take no for an answer. This being [[HormoneAddledTeenager Xander]], however, he was all too eager to take them up on their offer.
* ADayInTheLimelight: "The Zeppo" is all about him and his lower deck adventure.
* AnAxeToGrind: Becomes his main weapon in the comics, since having only one eye has ruined his ability to use crossbows.
* AllTherapistsAreMuggles: While he is smart enough to seek professional help for his building anger issues and the trauma he's been through by Season 10, Dr. Mike is only useful for the personal stuff. Dealing with [[spoiler: the potential ghost of an ex girlfriend]] is out of his league and the advice he gives Xander proves disastrous.
* AmazonChaser: Xander has a noted thing for Slayers, showing interest in Buffy, Kendra, and Faith (and losing interest in Kendra when she becomes tongued-tied). He ends up losing his virginity to Faith.
* AmbiguouslyGay: Originally it wasn't certain whether Xander or Willow would come out as gay, so a few jokes on the subject were placed in the early seasons, continuing as a gag in later seasons after Willow became the gay character.
* AuthorAvatar: According to Nicholas Brendon, his character is based on Joss Whedon in high school, which is why Xander "gets all the good lines." They also dress alike. It would explain Xander's avowed fetish for [[SpandexLatexOrLeather spandex]] and his [[ComicBook/XMen taste in comics]].
* BadassNormal: Monsters beware! ''This'' carpenter can dry-wall you into the next century!
* BasementDweller: Downplayed in that he pays rent and works a variety of jobs to support himself. It is very clear that he loathes every minute of having to live with his parents.
* BeardOfSorrow: Grows one shortly after Renee's death in Season 8.
* BelligerentSexualTension: With Cordelia before they started dating, and [[HomoeroticSubtext possibly Spike]].
* BerserkButton: Don't harm or endanger his friends. Case in point: in the Season 2 premiere, after Willow and Giles are captured by the Order of Aurelius after Buffy refuses to work with them and leaves, [[CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot Xander bitterly tells her that she could have prevented the kidnapping if she had just stayed]], and explicitly threatens to kill Buffy if the vamps hurt Willow.
** At the end of Season 8, he snaps on Angel for [[spoiler: killing Giles]] and pummels him.
* BewareTheSillyOnes: He's very goofy and snarky, but when push comes to shove, he proves just ''why'' he's the BadassNormal of the Scooby Gang.
* BodyMotifs: Xander is the one who sees everything, so Caleb pokes out one of his eyes. In "Restless" Xander is TheHeart of the group, so the First Slayer rips out his heart.
* BookDumb: Granted, he's a little slow on some of the academic stuff (mostly math and spatial relations), but is a quick thinker and has a lot of common sense.
* BrainwashResidue:
** After being turned into a soldier during Season 2's HalloweenEpisode, he still retains his knowledge of military training, and uses it to help the gang on multiple occasions (such as when he sneaks into a military base to steal a rocket launcher).
** After being temporarily BrainwashedAndCrazy by Dracula in Season 5, he continued to refer to Dracula as "Master" several episodes later and in the Season 8 comics.
* ButtMonkey: TropeNamer.
-->'''Xander:''' Dammit! You know what? I'm sick of this crap. I'm sick of being the guy who [[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E1BuffyVsDracula eats insects]] and [[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E8Pangs gets the funny syphilis]]. As of this moment, it's over. I'm finished being everybody's butt-monkey!\\
''[Giles, Riley, and Buffy nod and try to look solemn]''\\
'''Buffy:''' Check. No more butt-monkey.
* CartwrightCurse: Of his four major love interests, three are dead: [[spoiler:Cordelia, Anya, and Renee]], and all his other possible love interests turned out to be demons trying to kill him. Hopefully Dawn will have better luck.
** [[spoiler: In the comics she nearly dies and then has her emotional state reset to when she was first created, erasing her romantic feelings for him. Ouch.]]
* ChickMagnet: He's THE [[ButtMonkey Butt Monkey]], but there's no denying that a lot of women fall for him throughout the course of the series. To wit, there's Cordelia, Anya, Willow and Dawn, and even Faith has had sex with him. [[UpToEleven Taken up to eleven]] in the love spell episode in which Amy's spell accidentally forces every woman except Cordelia in Xander's vicinity to fall madly in love with him.
* ClassClown: His personality in the early seasons is comical. In "The Prom," he complains about not winning the ClassClown award.
* CombatPragmatist: In a world where most people think they need to use swords, stakes, axes, and other similar melee/medieval weapons, Xander came up with the idea to use a rocket launcher to kill the Judge, and later bashed Glory with a wrecking ball.
* CowardlyLion: His fear is a RunningGag, yet he shows incredible courage for someone with no superpowers whatsoever.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: He's a goofball, but when push comes to shove, he's unstoppable.
%%* DeadpanSnarker: Even among an entire cast of snarkers, Xander reigns supreme.
* DubNameChange: The French dub changes his nickname to a more widespread "Alex".
* EasyAmnesia: {{Exploited}}. After Xander is possessed by hyenas, he tells Buffy and Willow he has no memory of it, but when Giles confronts him, he confesses that he was lying so he wouldn't have to talk about it. In Season 2, he inadvertently reveals he was lying.
* EmbarrassingMiddleName: [=LaVelle=].
* EvenNerdsHaveStandards: His interactions with Andrew, who he would indulge in pop culture-based conversations with before telling him to shut up.
* EyepatchOfPower: After [[spoiler:he loses his eye in Season 7]], he wears a Nick Fury style eyepatch.
* EyeScream: At least he gets to be ComicBook/NickFury now, right?
* TheFace: He lacks the supernatural powers of his teammates, but is best friends with Buffy and Willow to the end. His storylines tends to revolve around interpersonal relationships, and, as the most consistent of the Scooby Gang, he interacts with everyone.
* FailedASpotCheck: In "Villains," he's so in shock over the fact that Warren shot Buffy that he completely fails to notice that Willow's shirt is [[spoiler: covered in Tara's blood]].
* FantasticRacism: As far as he's concerned, "vampires are bad." No exceptions. To be fair, vampires ''are'' AlwaysChaoticEvil.
* FatalAttractor: All of his dates are demons. ''All'' of them. He and Willow have devised a secret phone code for "My date's a demon who's trying to kill me."
* GreenEyedMonster: While he has plenty of reasons not to like vampires, the ongoing tension he has with Angel is clearly based on the fact that Angel won Buffy's heart where Xander didn't.
* TheHeart: His position in the Scooby Gang as 'The Heart' was a key component of a spell -- the others were 'The Mind', 'The Spirit', and 'The Hands'. It's made clear more than once that Xander's strength doesn't lie in battle or conjuring spells, but in his interpersonal skills which hold the group together and keep them sane despite all the insanity swirling around them. [[spoiler:He brought Willow back from the brink by telling her he loved her.]]
%%* HiddenDepths
* HollywoodDateless: It's a running joke that the only dates he gets are with demons disguised as women, which is partially true, but he did spend most of the series in long-term committed relationships with Cordelia (Seasons 2-3) and Anya (4-6). Plus he had a one night stand with Faith and Willow wanted him. As of Season 8, even Buffy confesses her love for Xander. He turns her down, since he's now in a relationship with Buffy's sister and he believes Buffy has just finally gotten to the settle-for-the-best-friend option (after "trying girls", mind you, so he might be right.) Earlier in the comic he was dating a Slayer named Renee, who was killed during a mission in Japan.
* HormoneAddledTeenager:
-->'''Cordelia''': Does looking at guns make ''you'' wanna have sex?\\
'''Xander:''' I'm 17. Looking at linoleum makes me wanna have sex.
** When Buffy [[DirtyMindReading reads his mind]]...
-->'''Xander:''' "What am I going to do? I think about sex all the time. Sex. Help. Four times five is thirty. Five times six is thirty-two... Naked girls. Naked women. Naked Buffy. Oh, stop me!"
-->'''Buffy:''' "God, Xander! Is that ''all'' you think about?!"
* HopelessSuitor: In the first season, he tries and fails to get Buffy's attention in a romantic manner.
%%* HotMenAtWork
* {{Hypocrite}}:
** In Season 3, he's furious that Buffy knew that Angel had come BackFromTheDead and withheld the information from the others, when he himself had deliberately neglected to tell Buffy that Willow was planning to curse Angel with a soul again in the Season 2 finale to ensure that Buffy ''would'' kill him.
** He also has a relationship with Anya, a former demon, whilst looking down on Buffy's relationship with Angel because Angel is a vampire. As Angel has a soul and regrets the things Angelus did, he is really just as moral as Anya is. This gets magnified when he yells at Buffy for wanting to kill Anya, who is back on a vengeance demon killing spree, and she reminds him that she killed Angel to save the world.
* IronicEcho: In "The Gift," Spike mockingly refers to him as a glorified bricklayer. He uses this in a BondOneLiner after nailing Glory with a wrecking ball:
-->''Xander:''' And the glorified bricklayer picks up a spare.
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: He eventually reconciles himself to Buffy seeing him as a friend. In Season 8, Buffy briefly comes onto him. However, Xander recognizes that she's looking for a warm body, not love, and reaffirms that they are friends only.
* InWithTheInCrowd: Due to possession by hyena spirits in "The Pack" he hangs out with a clique, who was also possessed.
* ItsAllAboutMe: Sometimes. Overlaps with his issues [[NeverMyFault taking blame for some things]], like when he didn't want his friends feeling sympathy for Cordelia after he cheated on her. He also dismissed Buffy's need to leave Sunnydale to grieve having to kill Angel as "boy troubles," focusing on the worry she caused them instead of any real empathy even though Angel's death was partly due to a lie he told.
* ItsAllMyFault: In the final episodes of Season 6, he views Dark Willow's rampage as his fault, revealing that he saw the gun in Warren's hand before he even raised it and just froze up in fear and stood there while Warren shot Buffy and Tara.
* IJustWantToBeSpecial: It relates more to his lack of powers or supernatural abilities as anyone who has helped save the world multiple times can hardly claim that ''they'' have lived an unexceptional or unexciting life.
* TheLancer: Often acts as Buffy's "voice of reason" when he feels she's not thinking straight. By Season 8, he's her official second-in-command.
** Also plays this to Spike in Season 10, particularly the "Love Dares You" arc.
* TheLeader: Come Season 8, he's the ''de facto'' leader of the international Slayers' organization because of his uncanny ability to bring out the best in his girls. See TheHeart above.
* LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain: After telling Buffy he was once roped into working as a male stripper.
* LikesOlderWomen: Harbors an unspoken desire for [[spoiler:Joyce Summers]]. He's a conquistador! This is true for [[HotForTeacher some Sunnydale High teachers]] as well. Also Anya, who is 1120 years old.
* LiteralMetaphor: In "Dead Man's Party," while Joyce and the Scoobies are taking turns giving Buffy a WhatTheHellHero speech, Xander tells Buffy that "You can't just bury stuff; it'll come right back up to get you." Unbeknownst to the gang, Sunnydale is undergoing a ZombieApocalypse at that very moment.
* TheLoad: Most new characters think he's useless. [[HiddenDepths They're wrong]]...
* LoveMakesYouDumb: Discussed in Season 7 when he objects to Buffy planning to kill Anya, despite the fact that Anya brutally murdered several humans; Buffy herself believes that Xander's lingering feelings for Anya are clouding his judgement:
-->'''Xander''': Buffy, I still love her.\\
'''Buffy''': I know. And that's why you can't see this for what it really is.
* MakingUseOfTheTwin: Nicholas Brendon's twin brother, Kelly Donovan, appears as a clone Xander in "The Replacement," and as his double for most of the episode "Intervention" while Brendon was sick.
* TheMasochismTango: With Cordelia, from acting like they hated each other in public to having private makeout sessions in the school broom closet.
%%* MissionControl: Often served in this capacity for the Slayer Organization.
* MonsterRoommate: Had Spike forced on him in Seasons 4 and 7, much to their mutual dislike. In Season 10, however, they're splitting an apartment willingly.
* NeuralImplanting: After being turned into a soldier during the first Halloween episode, he still retains military knowledge, which helps out the Scoobies on more than one occasion.
* NeverMyFault:
** He doesn't want the other Scoobies to feel sorry for Cordelia after the break-up, despite the fact that ''he'' cheated on ''her'' with Willow.
** In "Dead Man's Party," he blatantly ignores the fact that him refusing to tell Buffy crucial information (that she should stall the fight because Willow was going to try to restore Angel's soul) probably caused her more suffering than if he had just told her. Also, him lying to her by saying that Willow wanted Buffy to "kick [Angel's] ass" when she actually said the opposite didn't help with Buffy's fear of opening up to Willow. But of course Xander just blames Buffy for keeping things to herself.
* TheNicknamer: He's the one that came up with the "Scooby Gang" nickname.
* NonActionGuy: He doesn't always accept the fact that he's not supposed to confront evil things like his friends are.
%%* NonActionSnarker
* NumberTwo: Official second-in-command to Buffy in the Slayer Organization.
* OddFriendship: Considering how often he helps in the vampire slaying, he and Dracula get along well.
* OutOfFocus: During Season 7, with an all-time low of three lines in "Lies My Parents Told Me" and an absence in "Conversations with Dead People."
* OvershadowedByAwesome: Giving him a sense of kinship with Dawn, who likewise feels overshadowed by her big sister.
* PalsWithJesus: With Dracula in the comics. Xander taught him how to motorbike.
%%* ThePaladin
* PerpetualPoverty: Until he gets promoted at work, he had little spending money.
* PlatonicLifePartners: With Buffy and Willow, after it was made clear that there could be no romantic prospects between them and that they were BetterAsFriends.
* PopCulturedBadass: Badass enough to not only survive Sunnydale but save the world a couple of times; [[BadassNormal without powers]], and geeky enough to want to be addressed as [[ComicBook/NickFury Sergeant Fury]].
* RunawayGroom: Leaves Anya at the alter out of fear that they will turn out like his parents.
* SadClown: '''Big time.''' Usually has all the snarkiest dialogue, and it's pretty obvious that it's just something to mask the loneliness and inferiority complex he deals with.
* SarcasticDevotee: If he's got issues with ThePlan, he ''will'' tell the group, in true Xander fashion.
* ScarsAreForever: His eye never heals.
* ScrewLearningIHavePhlebotinum: He was mystically turned into a soldier during the HalloweenEpisode of Season 2, and even after the spell is broken, he still recalls everything about military protocol. It helps the Scoobies more than once.
* SexGod: According to Anya, he is "a real Viking in the sack!" and she would know, because she was a real Viking once upon a time.
-->'''Anya:''' "I love Xander because of his thoughtfulness, and compassion, and his kindness. Plus he can hold his breath for nearly twenty minutes, which is a bonus during some sexual acts, I can tell you."
* ShipperOnDeck: Encourages Buffy to get back together with Riley.
** Ironically by Season 10, despite formerly being one of it's biggest naysayers, he'd actually pro Spike and Buffy, to the point of calling Spike out for turning Buffy down for a date since it's obvious Spike is still in love with her.
* ShippingTorpedo: To wit: he loathed Buffy with Series/{{Angel}} because he's in love with Buffy; was a Torpedo to Spike/Buffy because he dislikes Spike and thinks he's bad for Buffy, and anti-shipped Wesley/Cordelia for all of the above reasons.
* SlutShaming: Xander's favourite form of comeback against Cordelia after they break up.
-->''Cordelia:'' You dragged me out of bed for a ride? What am I, mass transportation?
-->''Xander:'' That's what a lot of the guys say, but it's just locker room talk. I wouldn't pay it any mind.
* StepfordSnarker: Xander's primary defense mechanism is snark, which he sometimes uses to mask hurt feelings or lack of self-confidence. Lampshaded by Anya after he calls off their wedding and she refers to him as "a scared, insecure little boy" who has spent his entire life telling "stupid, pointless jokes" to conceal it. "The Zeppo" and "The Replacement" center around Xander's poor self-image and how he really thinks of himself among the Scoobies.
* StupidSexyFriend: Xander only awakens to his attraction to Willow when they're both going steady, with other people.
* TalkingTheMonsterToDeath: How he beat [[spoiler:Dark!Willow]] in Season 6.
-->"I saved the world with talking from my mouth. My ''mouth'' saved the world!"
* TeamDad: To the new Slayers in Season 8. Any Slayer who ever seems depressed or on the verge of a HeroicBSOD is always quickly cheered up by Xander.
* TeethClenchedTeamwork: With Buffy's vampire {{Love Interest}}s because he is one himself and overshadowed by them.
* ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman: As foreman on the Sunnydale High 2.0 construction project, he has intimate knowledge of its blueprints. He's also handy at building barricades at Chez Summers. Once got in a fantastic shot on [[PhysicalGod Glory]] using a '''[[ImprovisedWeaponUser wrecking ball]]'''.
* TranquilFury: He's a surprising example of this trope, given his usual goofy temperament, but threaten some one he cares about and it doesn't matter how much stronger than him you may be—he will calmly inform you that he will kill you (see his conversation with Buffy after she got Willow kidnapped, or his conversation with Angel at the hospital). It is telling that none of the super-powered characters he has threatened have ignored the threat. The man can be scary when he wants to be.
* UndyingLoyalty: Seven seasons of this, when most guys his age would probably have just fled the city ages ago.
%%* UnfazedEveryman
%%* UnluckyEverydude
* VirginShaming: In "Teacher's Pet" the reason that the praying mantis teacher wanted to kill him was ''because'' he was a virgin, which Xander vigorously tried to deny after Buffy and Willow found out. After being propositioned by Faith in "The Zeppo", he sheepishly admits that he's "never been up with people before". It doesn't stop her.
* WeirdnessMagnet: While everyone shows some of this, Xander has it more than most. He comes closest to fulfilling this trope when he is recruited by [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot Zombie Bank Robbers]] as a ''wheelman''. Most of the women interested in him turn out to be a demon.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Giles]]
!!Rupert Giles
[[quoteright:250:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d381fafda1c84a8427dd26914e8b325c.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:250:''"The Earth is ''definitely'' doomed."'']]
->'''Played By:''' Creator/AnthonyStewartHead

-->''"In the end, we all are who we are, no matter how much we may appear to have changed."''

Buffy's Watcher. A QuintessentialBritishGentleman ''[[UpToEleven of]]'' British Gentlemen. Originally just MrExposition, turned out to have [[DarkAndTroubledPast quite a past]]. Also played TeamDad to the Scoobies.
----
* ActuallyPrettyFunny: While he's describing how the phases of the moon exert a degree of psychological influence over people and the full moon brings out their darkest qualities, Xander quips that it led to the creation of the moon pie. Buffy and Willow are [[ToughRoom unimpressed]], but Giles almost cracks up right then and there.
* AdmiringTheAbomination: He does this occasionally. "Werewolves, it's... it's one of the classics!"
%%* TheAllegedCar: Giles' first car.
* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: The Council shunned him even before they fired him, and wouldn't let him come to the Watcher Retreat in the Cotswolds. This is [[JustifiedTrope Justified]]: [[spoiler: before Giles was as we currently see him, he was part of a group of magic-abusing rebellious youths, who did things like '''summoning demons and getting high on the possession''' as a fun, everyday activity.]]
* AntiHero: As he puts it, Buffy is a "real hero" who always puts helping others above anything else. That's also what allows Giles to assume this role, as the group ''needs'' someone more ruthless and vicious when difficult choices have to be made -- Giles is the man who carries that burden so Buffy and the others don't have to.
* BadassBookworm: Watcher pretending to be a Librarian and using to assist slaying demons. However, the Badass part only really started to become apparent once his DarkAndTroubledPast did as well. Of course, even before that, he was willing to go toe to toe with vampires himself in desperate situations.
* BatmanGambit: Season 6. [[spoiler:The magic Willow stole from him tapped into what humanity was left in her. As a result Willow senses the pain of all human beings. And her reaction is to try to wipe out all life on earth. However, this also gives Xander the opportunity to get through to her and talk her down.]]
* BerserkButton: When people threaten to harm/truly harm his friends, particularly his [[PapaWolf surrogate daughter Buffy]].
* BewareTheNiceOnes: While generally pleasant and polite, he is ''not'' one to be trifled with when his patience is at an end. So far, he's beaten the living shit out of Ethan Rayne for information on how to break his "turn people into their Halloween costumes" curse, embarked on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge against Angelus upon discovering that he killed Jenny Calendar, burning down his hideout and beating him senseless with a flaming baseball bat, physically and professionally threatened Principal Snyder into readmitting Buffy back into Sunnydale High, manhandled Spike while ordering him to get over his [[StalkerWithACrush obsession]] with Buffy and move on, tortured one of Glory's minions for information, and smothered Ben to death with his bare hands to prevent his SuperpoweredEvilSide Glory from coming back.
%%* BlueCollarWarlock:
* BritishStuffiness:
** When Giles is mad, but too English to say anything, he makes a weird "cluck-cluck" sound with his tongue. Early in Season 3, Joyce acquires an artifact that summons zombies. When he finds out (after calling Buffy's house only to be hung up on by a drunk partygoer), Giles is pissing and moaning as he speeds to the rescue:
---> "Unbelievable. '[[SarcasmMode Do you like my mask? Isn't it pretty? It RAISES THE DEAD.]]' ''Americans!''"
*** The best part is that he becomes so engrossed in kvetching about {{Eagleland}}ers that he wraps his {{Alleged Car}} around one of the aforementioned [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W23IwSNLcq8 raised dead.]]
* CameBackStrong: When [[spoiler:he's resurrected in his child body at the end of Season 9, it reawakens the great magical potential he had previously repressed.]]
* TheCastShowOff: He was the first to show off his awesome singing voice.
* CommutingOnABus: In Series 6 and 7, due to the actor finding all the travel between the UK and USA to be too difficult. He requested a reduced role in the series.
* TheComicallySerious: Surround a stuffy British nerd with three very [[TheNineties 90s]] California teenagers, and you're gonna get a lot of this.
%%* CoolOldGuy
%%* CulturedWarrior
%%* CunningLinguist
* DarkAndTroubledPast: It has trouble staying buried, too. 'Ripper' Giles used to be evil (or at the very least, violent and criminally inclined [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Jerk With A Deeply Buried Heart Of Gold]]) in his younger days; a vicious delinquent practicing dark magic.
* DeadpanSnarker: Of a somewhat more eloquent nature than the others, but no less cutting. Especially around Principal Snyder and Wesley.
* DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife: Throughout the Season 10 comics, he's [[spoiler:disconnected and unsure what to do with his life, now that he's been resurrected in a 12-year-old body and Buffy and the Scoobies don't seem to need him anymore. By the end, he's managed to find something to do; being the vice president of the new Magic Council.]]
* DrinkOrder: Scotch, most of the time.
* EmbarrassingTattoo: Not so much embarrassing as evil, but it's embarrassing ''because'' it's evil. It's like a [=DIY=] [[Franchise/HarryPotter Dark Mark]] except it binds him, [[spoiler: Ethan Rayne and other former "friends" from his youth to the demon they used to get high on.]]
* ExpansionPackPast: Bits are added on as time goes by, most notably TheReveal of his past as 'Ripper'.
* EvilTwin: Two AlternateUniverse versions of him; Ripper from the game ''Chaos Bleeds'', and a vampire EvilOverlord from the ''The Lost Slayer'' book series.
%%* TheExtremistWasRight: Along with the other Watchers.
* FailedASpotCheck: In "Dead Man's Party," while arguing with the Scoobies over what kind of welcome home party to throw Buffy, he turns a page in his book and fails to notice a picture of the mask Joyce has mounted on her wall.
* FakeGuestStar: Throughout Season 7. But we'll act conciliatory and call him a Super-Duper Extra Special Guest Star.
%%* TheFinickyOne: In early seasons.
* FormerTeenRebel: Most of his friends from his rebellious twentysomethings still call him "Ripper."
* FourEyesZeroSoul: He slips into this trope now and again, mainly because of IDidWhatIHadToDo. It becomes prevalent in Season 5 when he's prepare to sacrifice Dawn and suffocate Ben in cold blood to stop Glory's return.
* GentlemanAndAScholar: a well dressed, well mannered classical English gentleman who happens to be ludicrously well-versed in History, Linguistics and the Occult, implied to have formerly been Curator of the British Museum.
* GentlemanSnarker: Not as prolific a snarker as other Scoobies, often being TheComicallySerious, but he's plenty snarky.
* GlassesPull: A CharacterTic is pulling out his brainy specs and it's often lampshaded.
* GoodIsNotSoft: Smothering a wounded [[spoiler:Ben]] to death rather than risk [[spoiler:Glory]] coming back. Before doing the deed, Giles cryptically remarks, "[Buffy's] a hero, you see. She's not like us." He wanted to spare Buffy from doing it.
%%* GuileHero
* TheHandler: In theory anyway; he realises early on that Buffy doesn't respond well to orders.
* HardHead: Giles tends to get knocked out, but never suffers any brain damage. On one occasion, he quipped that he believed that he had developed a resistance to head trauma. Though in Season 3, one such incident led to him being hospitalized.
-->"I know I'm back in America now; I've been knocked unconscious."
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Giles got between a Twilight possessed Angel and Buffy as they fought near the Seed of Wonder, wielding the Scythe to try and destroy the Seed himself and end Twilight's invasion of Earth, or get killed by Twilight and give Buffy the motivation she needed to take the Scythe and end things herself.]]
* HelpingWouldBeKillStealing: Giles in the sixth season of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''. [[spoiler: He chose to abandon Buffy because he felt that she was limiting herself by clinging to him in a immature way.]] In principle he had good reasons, but he chose to make his stand right in the middle of a crisis, and forbade everyone else from helping Buffy. That can only vaguely be justified by him following musical logic at the time. When he comes back to help against Dark Willow, he apologizes for leaving her, especially after hearing about everything that had gone wrong with the gang since he skipped town, but Buffy assured him that he was right.
* HopelessWithTech: He admits to being scared of technology, and when he finds out that the library of Sunnydale High 2.0 consists of nothing but computers, he's absolutely horrified.
* HotLibrarian: In the view of Faith, Joyce and possibly Willow.
* IAmVeryBritish: In the second episode, he asks Willow to "wrest more information from that dread machine... That was a bit...British."
* IDidWhatIHadToDo: His reaction to [[spoiler: smothering Ben to stop Glory for good.]] Nasty work, which is why he did it; Buffy shouldn't have to.
* INeedAFreakingDrink: "It's all right... I have [[DrinkOrder more scotch]]."
* InSeriesNickname: Ripper. He earned it.
* JackBauerInterrogationTechnique: A kidnapped minion of Glory defiantly refuses to talk. Giles asks Willow and Anya to get twine, the camera follows them, and a SickeningCrunch is heard. The minion sings like a canary, with Giles answering Willow's question about what happened with a very casual, "He changed his mind." Exactly what he did is unclear.
** Giles has also managed to withstand being on the ''receiving'' end of this: when Angelus attempts to resurrect Acathla, Giles tells him that, in order to be worthy, he must perform the ritual in... a tutu, before calling Angel a pillock.
* LastNameBasis: The only people who call him "Rupert" are his romantic interests [[HoYay and Spike.]]
* LaserGuidedAmnesia: While in London during Season 6, Giles did a spell to bind a demon, but it required him to lose the memory of one of the happiest days in his life. That day was the day he fell in love with Jenny Calendar, leaving him with a heartache that he felt would never go away, even though he had no idea what the memory was about.
* LimitedWardrobe:
** A Watcher scoffs at fashion! One tweed suit is all you need.
-->'''Jenny''': Do you own anything else?\\
'''Giles:''' Uh well, not as such, no.
** It gets to the extent that the Scoobies joke that he wore tweed diapers as a baby. However, in the post-high school seasons, he dresses casually far more often.
* LivingEmotionalCrutch: For Buffy in the first half of Season 6. Giles eventually leaves to force her to become independent.
* MagicLibrarian: A librarian with a certain talent for magic, albeit one he largely forsook after his MyGodWhatHaveIDone moment with Eyghon.
%%* {{Mangst}}: When he is truly heartbroken, this is the result.
* MentorOccupationalHazard: Frequently threatened. [[spoiler: In the comics but not the series because he doesn't die in the series.]]
* MidlifeCrisisCar: It seduced him, all red and sporty.
* TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody: When transformed into a Fyarl demon in "A New Man," Giles experiences the demon's natural violent urges. Also, in Season 10, [[spoiler: his being resurrected in a 12-year-old body leads to him being more impulsive and less able to concentrate, not to mention becoming more fixated on the other sex's physical charms, much to his embarrassment.]]
* MrExposition: Gets parodied in "Restless" when he ''sings'' his latest exposition.
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: "Ripper."
* NecessarilyEvil: Best exemplified in the following quote:
-->''"Because I've sworn to protect this sorry world, and sometimes that means doing what other people can't. What they shouldn't have to."''
* NeckSnap: [[spoiler:This is how Angel, as Twilight, ultimately kills him.]]
* NightmareFetishist:
-->'''Giles:''' But that's the thrill of living on the Hellmouth! There's a veritable cornucopia of fiends and devils and ghouls to engage! ''({{beat}})'' ...Well, excuse me for finding the glass half-full.
%%* NonIdleRich
%%* OccultDetective
* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: In the Season 5 episode "Tough Love", Giles, Willow, and Anya capture one of Glory's minions and are about to interrogate him for information. Giles tells Willow and Anya to get some rope to tie him up, and the minute they turn around, we hear a SickeningCrunch and the minion painfully and frantically agrees to tell them everything. Giles' response to their questions?
-->'''Giles''': [[BlatantLies He changed his mind.]]
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: In the Season 5 finale. Buffy flat-out tells him to the face that they are ''not'' talking about killing Dawn to stop Glory, at which point Giles loses his temper and screams ''"YES, WE BLOODY WELL ARE!!"'' at the top of his voice. Cue shocked reactions and gaping mouths from all the other Scoobies.
* OpeningNarration: [[PreviouslyOn Previouslys just aren't previouslys]] without Giles' smooth buttery tone.
* PapaWolf: Threatening Buffy isn't a wise move if you want to stay healthy. Best shown in "I Was Made to Love You": when Spike shows up at the Magic Box, Giles shoves him against the wall and, in full TranquilFury mode, tells him off; Spike [[KnowWhenToFoldEm wisely chooses to beat it at that]].
-->'''Giles''': We are not your friends. We are not your way to Buffy. There ''is'' no way to Buffy. [[GetOut Clear out of here]]. And Spike, this [[StalkerWithACrush thing]]... get over it.\\
'''Spike''': [''smirks''] [[BlatantLies I don't know what you mean]].\\
'''Giles''': Yes, you do. ''Move the hell on.''
* ParentalSubstitute: Gradually becomes a surrogate father to Buffy and the gang as a whole (all of their biological fathers being sadly lacking in various ways), and partially to Faith in Season 8.
** His strong paternal feelings for Buffy almost led to him being dismissed as her Watcher, as he was focusing more on protecting her than in getting the job done. Watch Buffy's face in the episode where it's pointed that Giles has "a father's love" for her. She's ''speechless.'' Judging by Giles' body language in the same scene, it's something that he was very reluctant to admit even to himself.
%%* ThePatriarch
* PoisonousFriend: Often does (and says, and thinks) what Buffy can't or won't.
* TheSmartGuy: Giles knows something about everything, except synchronized swimming.
%%* SmartPeoplePlayChess
* SmartPeopleSpeakTheQueensEnglish: One of the smartest characters, held up as the brainbox of the Scoobies (along with Willow, though her expertise leans more towards the technical), and speaker of flawless Queen's English -- unless he gets reverted back to his youthful Ripper persona.
%%* TheSpock
* SurpassedTheTeacher: One of his main concerns from Season 4 onwards; not that he resents Buffy for it, he just feels superfluous.
* TeamDad: to the Scoobies, being a surrogate father to the lot of them, especially Buffy. He's even this to [[ImmortalImmaturity Spike]], in a very weird way, as jokingly explored in ''Tabula Rasa''.
* TeenGenius: After [[spoiler:he's killed in Season 8]], Angel and Faith [[spoiler: resurrect him]], but due to other circumstances, [[spoiler:he comes back with his adult memories intact, but in the body of a 12-year-old, thanks to his immortal aunts, who remember him as a 12 year old, doing the resurrecting. His behaviour is also influenced by being a hormonal teenager, much to his chagrin.]]
* TranquilFury: He often falls into this. A perfect example is in "I Was Made to Love You," when Spike shows up at the Magic Box. Giles shoves him into a wall, gets in his face, and tells him to get over his obsession with Buffy and move on, all with nothing more than a cool glare and without raising his voice. Spike decides not to push his luck and beats it.
* UnderestimatingBadassery: In "School Hard," he initially dismisses Spike as a major threat as he's "barely 200" and vampires are StrongerWithAge. He quickly realizes his mistake when he discovers that Spike has [[HeroKiller killed two past Slayers]].
* UnwantedRevival: Zigzagged; at the end of ''Angel & Faith'', Giles is [[spoiler:successfully resurrected by Angel in the body of a twelve-year-old boy. Considering his soul had been held captive by Eyghon, as well as his being trapped in Angel's body and forced to endure Angelus' crimes and Angel's sorrow, Giles admits he ''would'' be grateful for Angel bringing him back and saving him from all that... were it not for the fact that Angel killed him in the first place and focused on reviving him rather than dealing with Whistler's plan.]]
* UptightLovesWild: With the lovely [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot Romani granola girl monster-truck loving techno-pagan Wicca hippie Ms. Calender]].
* WhatTheHellHero: Andrew has this reaction when he finds out that Giles knew that Buffy had gone to the future and killed an evil version of Willow, but didn't tell him or set up precautions in case Willow turned evil again. Giles even acknowledges he is right, and they begin working on an emergency plan in case Willow does go evil again.
* {{Workaholic}}: Particularly evident in Season 4. Due to his not having a job at the time, and Buffy not really requiring a watcher in the same way as she once did, he struggles to fill his time. Whenever any opportunity to help the gang or investigate evil comes about, he leaps on it.
* YourDoorWasOpen: This [[RunningGag happens to Giles a lot]] in the fourth season, even when he's ''sure'' he locked the door.
[[/folder]]

!Later Additions

[[folder:Dawn]]
!!Dawn Summers
[[quoteright:250:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/afc456540308fe29a907c73bcd93d5f2.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:250:''"We destroyed TheMall? ...I fought on the wrong side."'']]
->'''Played By:''' Creator/MichelleTrachtenberg

-->''"She still thinks I'm Little Miss Nobody, just her dumb little sister. Boy, is she in for a surprise."''

Buffy's younger sister who was {{Cosmic Retcon}}ned into existence in Season 5. She's actually a [[MacGuffin Key]] that could open dimensional barriers.
----
* ActionGirl: As of the final season; she leans more towards an ActionSurvivor in Season 5 and until the final episode of Season 6.
* AffectionateGestureToTheHead: Buffy stroking Dawn's hair. [[TheNotLoveInterest Which she does a lot]].
* AgeAppropriateAngst: Joss thought so which is why he "scratched his head" when viewer response wasn't ideal. He later admitted the writers were "hitting the same note" with Dawn in Seasons 5-6.
* AgeIsRelative: Depending on how you look at her, when she first is seen in Buffy's bedroom, Dawn is either 14 billion years old, 14 years old, or mere minutes old.
* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: Buffy thinks of Dawn as a burden to be endured quite often, and not only because of the usual younger sister nonsense.
* ApocalypseMaiden: Spilling her blood creates an interdimensional tear that brings down the walls separating the various worlds, thus destroying the entire multi-verse.
* ArtificialHuman: She only ''looks'' human. Her existence is supernatural.
* AwesomenessByAnalysis: In the Season 6 finale, it's heavily implied that she picked up some fighting skills by watching Buffy slay.
* TheBabyOfTheBunch: Highlighted in the final season when she complains that everyone treats her like a baby to be protected when she's now older than Buffy was when she started her slaying career.
* BadassAdorable: By the end of the series she's a fairly skilled hand-to-hand fighter, for a normal human, has a base level of competency when it comes to magic, speaks a dozen languages, and is generally Giles' number one backup when it comes to research.
** The comics continue this trend. When her she's in the form of a giantess, her strength is still proportionate to her body. Regardless, Dawn has taken out foes of the same size with greater strength, including [[RobotMe mecha Dawn]] and the [[MonsterProgenitor creater of all vampires]].
* BarrierMaiden: She's the key to opening dimensional barriers.
* BewareTheNiceOnes:
-->'''Dawn:''' You sleep, right? Because if you hurt my sister, you'll wake up on fire.
-->'''Spike:''' [later, to Buffy] Also, when did your sister become unbelievably scary?
* BigSisterComplex: Dawn both resents and idolizes her superhero sister.
* BornOfMagic: [[spoiler: Buffy's sister Dawn is revealed to actually be a [[PureMagicBeing mystical being of living energy called The Key.]] She and everyone around her were given retroactive memories of her to hide her true nature. She was later transformed into a normal, organic, teenage girl.]]
* BrattyHalfPint: She spends most of Season 6 whining and bitching, to the extent that in "Two to Go," Dark Willow point-blank calls her on it and outright threatens to kill her just to put a stop to it:
-->'''Dark Willow''': Wanna go back? End the pain? You'll be happier. I'd be happier. We'll all be a lot happier without having to listen to all your constant whining. "Mom! Buffy! Tara! ''Wah''!"
* BreakTheCutie: Most of the fifth season is one long trauma-line for Dawn. She is targeted by a PhysicalGod for murder, her mother dies abruptly, and then her sister commits suicide in order to save her life. Its safe to say that it really was a bad year for Dawn. No wonder she starts acting out...
* BrokenPedestal: She practically [[HeroWorshipper hero-worships]] Spike throughout Season 6... until Xander lets it slip about Spike's AttemptedRape of Buffy.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: She was originally conceived as a pre-teen, and when Trachtenberg was cast instead there wasn't enough time to rewrite the season's first few episodes to reflect her being a teenager. Around Glory's introduction, this got better.
%%* TheChick
%%* CousinOliver
* CosmicRetcon: When the Monks of Dagon changed the all-powerful orb of glowing green energy she used to be into a 14 year old girl, they also inserted an entire life history for her into the memories of everyone who could possibly have met her.
* CursedWithAwesome: While being a giant and centaurette were annoying to her, she at least acknowledged they had some good points. Being turned into a doll wasn't funny. According to Creator/JossWhedon's script notes, Dawn Summers, being technically a clone of her older sister Buffy, should have been a potential Slayer, were it not for the fact that the Key, a force that was infinitely more powerful than the Slayer spirit, was already in residence in her body. Thus, her "potential" to be a potential Slayer was erased.
* DamselInDistress: The fact that Dawn is put in danger so often is even lamp-shaded.
-->'''Buffy:''' "Dawn's in trouble. Must be Tuesday."
* EmpoweredBadassNormal: As of Season 10, she's [[spoiler: developed new powers related to the Key, such as HandBlasts powerful enough to reduce demons to ash]].
* FascinatingEyebrow: Though more because she's being sardonic.
* FreakOut: Learning that her existence as a person was the creation of the Monks of Dagon shocked her so much that she sliced her own arm open just to see if she would really bleed.
* HasTwoMommies: As part of the CosmicRetcon, it's stated that she spends the night at Willow and Tara's place whenever she gets upset. Later they semi-adopt her when Buffy dies and move into her mom's old bedroom. When Willow and Tara separate early Season 6, Tara goes out of her way to assure Dawn, "This has nothing to do with you. You know we both still love you." Also, in Season 8, she directly says that Willow is like her mother.
* IJustWantToBeSpecial: Wouldn't you, if you were the BrattyHalfPint little sister to the Slayer?
* IncestSubtext: She wants Willow and Tara to teach her the stuff they do together, [[LesYay and is promptly told to go to her room]]. In another episode, Willow is perving on a girl dancing, to discover it was Dawn. Dawn also curls up in bed with the Buffybot as a way of mourning Buffy after her (temporary) death.
* ItsAllAboutMe: Sometimes, with her typical teenage tendencies. For example, she accuses Buffy of wanting to go away again when Buffy is struggling after being resurrected rather than trying to show empathy for Buffy's obvious depression or gratitude that Buffy sacrificed herself to save Dawn, and her kleptomaniac tendencies later on seem to be partly motivated by a need for attention.
* JerkassRealization: In "Forever," near the end, Dawn openly accuses Buffy of [[AngstWhatAngst not caring or even grieving over their mother's death]], because she's been running around and treating it like "just another chore." At that, Buffy breaks down and confesses that, far from being emotionless about Joyce's death, Buffy has been [[HeroicSafeMode bottling up her emotions because it's the only way she can deal with the grief]]. Dawn's expression as Buffy steadily breaks down into grief-stricken sobbing goes from cold anger to tearful horror as she realizes just how much her older sister is hurting.
* KleptomaniacHero: After her mother's death and Buffy's return, she gets increasingly sticky-fingered as a way to act out due to the trauma she'd endured.
* TheLoad: {{Lampshaded}} in Season 6.
--> "Dawn's in trouble. Must be Tuesday."
* TheLostLenore: For Xander Harris. Just as their relationship is becoming solid and stable, she nearly dies due to the death of magic, and has all of her emotional settings restored to how they were just after she was created, erasing the relationship completely.
%%* MinoredInAsskicking
* MissedTheCall: Joss Whedon admitted that she was almost a Slayer, as she is effectively a clone of Buffy. Problem is, the energy of the Key, which is infinitely more powerful than the Slayer essence, burned it out of her. The episode "Potential" explored the fact that she should have been a potential slayer, but wasn't.
* TheNotLoveInterest: Joss Whedon has stated that Buffy's LoveInterest for Season 5 is Dawn.
* PrecociousCrush: First on Xander; to the point of being jealous of Anya and dreaming of him looking at her as a woman, then after seeking Spike's help to find out what she is on him, wanting to be around to hang out with and be told ghost stories, knowing how strong he is and safe she feels with him, and he in turn protects her. Fun fact: Creator/JamesMarsters had the biggest crush on her, adding a real element to their relationship.
* RapunzelHair: Long hair which Buffy likes to stroke.
* RememberTheNewGuy: A deconstruction. When people, including Dawn, discover her sudden appearance in reality was only recent and their memories of her are fake, they have obviously mixed reactions to both the information and towards her.
* ScreamingWoman: As per the DamselInDistress role.
* SelfHarm: When she discovers her origins in Season 5, she flips out and cuts open her own arm just to make sure she'd really bleed.
* ShipperOnDeck: ''Hardcore'' Willow / Tara fangirl because they're sort-of her parents.
* TheSmartGuy: By the last season of the show, Dawn had become an efficient researcher and a master linguist.
* StickyFingers: Suffers from kleptomania.
* TheTeamWannabe: Pesters Buffy to let her patrol. Buffy finally starts training her in Season 7, but still won't let her patrol.
* TomatoInTheMirror:
* TookALevelInBadass: During Season 5 and most of Season 6, she's taken Willow's place as the show's token DistressedDamsel. By the Season 6 finale, she steps up a level by helping Buffy fight, and in Season 7, she's an active Scooby.
* WhamLine: Dawn has a couple, inadvertently or otherwise. Like when talking to Riley about Buffy's relationship with Angel:
--> "Everyday was like the end of the world. She doesn't get worked up like that over you."
** Or to her sister:
--> "Buffy, Spike's completely in love with you."
* WrongGenreSavvy: In a lot of Season 7, she seems to think she's in ''Series/{{CSI}}''.
* YoungerThanSheLooks: A 14-year old girl who is more than ReallySevenHundredYearsOld and is technically no more than a few hours old when first introduced.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Spike]]
!!Spike, né William Pratt
[[quoteright:250:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/727b9abc30e3a23abf4036d41b3b9d82.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:250:''"I may be love's bitch, but at least I'm man enough to admit it."'']]
->'''Played By:''' Creator/JamesMarsters

British vampire who served as the villain for early Season 2. Was planned to die, but his popularity saved him. He showed up in one episode in Season 3 before returning for good in Season 4. Had a chip in his head that prevented him from hurting humans, so he joined up with the Scoobies for survival and so he could get his kicks by fighting demons. Eventually fell in love with Buffy, and had a twisted relationship with her in Season 6. Got a soul at the end of Season 6 and made a HeroicSacrifice in the finale. Reappeared on ''Series/{{Angel}}''.
----
* AdaptationalModesty: Season 10 shows Spike usually sleeping in a tank top and boxers after moving in with the Scoobies. Even in the basement in season 7 Spike was fairly known for sleeping naked. Presumably one reason for this change is Spike constantly getting woken up and called to action right out of bed (including a major part of an arc where he and Xander are both in their sleepwear), which would require a lot of tricky angles from the artist in order to keep the comic's rating.
* AlwaysSecondBest: To Angel/Angelus, as both a hero and a villain. In "Just Rewards," Wesley and Angel outright state that Spike's reputation for evil and bloodshed is second only to Angelus's.
** Averted a few episodes later in "Destiny", where Spike becomes determined to prove that it might in fact be him, and not Angel, who is the "champion" featured in the Shanshu Prophecy. This culminates in an all-out brawl between the two over who should get to drink from the Cup of Perpetual Torment, and while both get in a good deal of damage (physically and verbally), Spike definitively wins the fight. Although the Cup proves to be a fake, the result is enough to shake Angel into wondering whether or not he truly is the subject of the Shanshu Prophecy, and he admits to Gunn later on that Spike was stronger and truly wanted to bear the burden more than he did.
** Subverted in the comics, where in Season 10 [[spoiler: Buffy makes it clear to Spike that she chooses him over Angel and Willow tells Angel she thinks Spike is more capable than Angel of being in a relationship with Buffy due to his greater capacity for change.]] Finally on top of Angel in ''one'' area, and the one that would matter [[LoveMartyr most to Spike.]]
* AmazonChaser: Drusilla, Slayers in general and Buffy in particular -- it's not a stretch to say he's only interested in women who can ([[CombatSadomasochist and do]]) kick his ass. Outright stated in the ''After the Fall'' comics.
* AmbiguousDisorder: He managed to improve his social skills over the course of a century, but he has a mixed bag of vaguely bipolar, obsessive, borderline and schizoidal tendencies which come and go with the story. Whenever he's bored, he'll do something ridiculously suicidal just for the hell of it, he stalked Buffy for over a year, and once had a full-blown psychotic episode.
* AntiHero: Was a NominalHero but plowed his way up to becoming an UnscrupulousHero.
* AntiVillain: Before becoming an AntiHero, he was this for his single appearance in Season 3. He was just too heartbroken to go all-out with the evil.
* AscendedDemon: He arguably became this at the end of Season 6, as he voluntarily chose to have his soul restored, whereas Angel's soul was forced upon him as part of a GypsyCurse and is always forced back in whenever he loses it.. The comic continuation of the series further reinforces this: vampires (apart from the ensouled Spike and Angel) are established to be AlwaysChaoticEvil due to their lack of a soul, but after temporarily losing his own soul, Spike ''remains good'' and initially refuses to take his soul back because he wanted to give it to Drusilla; he took it back because her restored conscience only drove her crazier.
* AtLeastIAdmitIt: He's man enough to admit that he's love's bitch.
* AuthorAppeal: Marti Noxon has an affinity for Naked!Spike.
* BadassLongcoat: Even before [[spoiler:killing Nikki Wood]], Spike was a fan of leather trench coats as a certain dead SS officer can certainly attest to. Didn't really bother removing the swastika armband though (in that regard, Angel mistook ''him'' for a Nazi).
* BadBoss: In Season 2, Spike sacrifices a vampire mook on two separate occasions ("School Hard" and "Halloween") just to get an idea of how the Slayer fights. When he comes back for one episode in Season 3, his former henchvamps now work for the AffablyEvil Mayor and make it a point to tell Spike how their lot has improved since he left town.
* BaitAndSwitch: In the final episodes of Season 6, it's initially believed that he went to Africa and underwent the Demon Trials so he could have his [[RestrainingBolt chip]] removed and go back to being evil again. As it turns out, in the season finale, he actually went there to get his soul back so he could give Buffy "what she deserved."
* BareHandedBladeBlock: In Season 5's "Spiral," he stops a Knight of Byzantium's sword from stabbing through the roof of their Winnebago and impaling Buffy through the skull, managing to hold it in place long enough for Buffy to get out through the roof hatch and take the fight to the Knights. It's played realistically: his hands are gashed and bandaged for the remainder of the episode.
* BasementDweller: Spends parts of Season 4 and 7 hiding out in basements.
* BastardBoyfriend: In Season 6, uses Buffy's obvious PTSD and depression in order to manipulate her into striking up a sexual relationship with him. Then later attempts to rape her after she calls it off.
* BattleTrophy: His BadassLongcoat is one: he stripped it off the body of the second Slayer he killed.
* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: He bonded with Joyce and Dawn Summers for this reason, and he shows his better side when Buffy treats him respectfully.
* BeenThereShapedHistory: He was involved in the Boxer Rebellion; it was when he killed his first Slayer.
* BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy: He didn't steal Music/BillyIdol's [[{{Expy}} look]]. Billy Idol stole ''his''!
* BigBad: For the first half of Season 2 of Buffy. However, he loses the position to Angelus in the second half.
* BigBadDuumvirate: With Drusilla in the first half of Season 2. Also tries to be one with Angelus before he establishes himself as the dominant one.
* BigBadWannabe: In subsequent seasons, he tries to reclaim his former position, but ends up slowly making a HeelFaceTurn when he fails.
* BigFancyHouse: In ''After the Fall'', Spike takes over the [[Magazine/{{Playboy}} Playboy Mansion]] and uses it as his residence after dusting a vampirized Hef.
* BiTheWay: [[ImpliedTrope Implied]] once in a off-hand comment; "Me and Angel have never been intimate... Well, except that one time--" [[ButNotTooBi Apart from this one-off gag, there's no other evidence to suggest he's sexually or romantically attracted to men]], and lots to suggest he's attracted to women.
* BloodKnight: Fighting isn't all he lives for, but it's a good portion of it. He especially likes it when he really can't tell who's going to win, which Angelus found unsophisticated.
* BondBreaker: In the Season 4 finale. He didn't create the problems the Scooby Gang were facing, but made them likelier to anger and alienate each other. He calls it the [[YokoOhNo Yoko Factor]].
* BookEnds: In his earliest canonical appearance, Spike (under his human identity, William) recites a bad poem to his crush and gets shot down ("Fool For Love", ''Buffy'' S5). Spike delivers the same performance at a poetry slam in the ''Angel'' SeriesFinale; this time, the whole audience applauds and cheers.
* ButtMonkey: When he was wheelchair bound, Angelus persistently kept making fun of him and taunting him. Later it was later revealed that he [[ThrowingOffTheDisability was not as wheelchair-bound as he seemed.]] When he was chipped, absolutely ''everyone'' took great satisfaction and pleasure in humiliating him. This was justified, given that he spent the majority of it insulting everybody back and telling them that he was going to kill them all as soon as he got the chip out.
* BreakoutVillain: Joss originally intended for him to be killed off midway through the second season, but Spike ended up so popular with audiences that he changed his mind.
* BreakTheHaughty: For a guy that cocky, his face sure does seem to be a fist-magnet.
* UsefulNotes/BritishAccents: Flashbacks show him speaking with an RP accent. After getting turned, he switched to a Cockney/Estuary accent.
%%* BruiserWithASoftCenter
* BrutalHonesty: When Buffy tries to fool herself, Spike lays it out straight.
* BungledSuicide: In "Doomed," having been reduced to a mere shadow of his former self by his RestrainingBolt, and with Xander of all people explicitly telling him that he's NotWorthKilling, Spike tries to dust himself by falling on a stake... only to be distracted by Willow and Xander's sudden appearance and miss the stake.
* CasualKink: Is into chains with Drusilla, dress-up games with Harmony, and introduces Buffy to bondage. The sexual enjoyment he gets from slugging it out with Buffy is lampshaded in several episodes.
* CatchPhrase: "Bloody hell!"
* ClosetGeek: While the Scoobies are holding him hostage in Season 4, his biggest concern is missing the next episode of ''Series/{{Passions}}''.
* ClosetSublet: With Anya gone, Spike ignominiously moves into a 'spare room' in Xander's apartment.
-->"I know it looks like a closet but [[ImplausibleDeniability it's a room now.]]"
* ClothesMakeTheLegend: His original trenchcoat gets burned to tatters but Wolfram & Hart immediately supplies him with eleven exact duplicates of the coat.
* CombatSadomasochist: Lampshaded on several occasions, such as when Spike makes his AnguishedDeclarationOfLove.
-->'''Joyce:''' Honey, did you somehow, unintentionally, lead him on in any way? Send him signals?
-->'''Buffy:''' Well, I do beat him up a lot. For Spike, that's like third base.
%%* TheConfidant: For Buffy in the first half of Season 6.
* CoolAirship: We don't know where he got it, but it is awesome.
* CoolBike: That he stole from a demon biker in Season 6.
* CulturedBadass: Can quote ''HenryV'' with the best of them. "We band of buggered."
* DeadpanSnarker: His parody of a conversation between Angel and a DistressedDamsel in "In the Dark" is ''awesomely hilarious''.
* DefiantToTheEnd: He refuses to reveal Dawn's identity as the Key under brutal torture from Glory in Season 5... which wins him back some good favor with Buffy.
* DependingOnTheWriter: Spike's level of evilness after being chipped seems to depend on who's writing him. Borders on HeelFaceRevolvingDoor. This is also the case with how smart he is.
* DespairEventHorizon: He crosses it in "Doomed." Unable to hunt for blood anymore, and being told off and considered NotWorthKilling by ''[[ButtMonkey Xander]]'' of all people, Spike tries to dust himself, and is actually ''happy'' another apocalypse is coming and hoping Buffy fails. When he discovers the chip doesn't stop him from hurting demons, he gets better.
* {{Deuteragonist}}: He is the second most important character in Season 7 after Buffy.
* DidntThinkThisThrough: In the final episodes of Season 4, he schemes to break up the Scoobies by exploiting the existing tensions between the group, and then planting evidence to lure Buffy into a trap as part of Adam's plan. However, after all is said and done, Adam points out that Spike gave Willow said evidence, and Willow won't be speaking to Buffy now; Spike quickly goes out to rectify it.
** On the dvd commentary for the Season 4 episode Primeval, episode writer David Fury admits that in the previous episode ('The Yoko Factor') Spike's oversight of giving Willow the disk before prodding the Scoobies toward implosion [[AuthorsSavingThrow was an oversight on the part of the writers]]. It was their plan, and once they realized that it was flawed, they just made it an instance of this trope. The AuthorsSavingThrow actually makes it better than if they had scrapped the bad plan, showing that Spike isn't TheChessmaster he thinks he is.
* DistinctionWithoutADifference: In ''Angel'' Season 5, he [[ShootTheHostage stabs through Angel]] to kill a demon behind him. Angel accuses him of just wanting to stab him. Spike is offended -- he prefers bashing Angel with blunt objects.
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: In-universe, Spike being [[RestrainingBolt chipped]] is often compared to an impotent man, or a neutered animal.
* DontYouDarePityMe: In Season 4, Willow and Xander take him along with them while going to prevent an apocalypse to prevent him from [[DrivenToSuicide staking himself]]. Spike thanks them by taunting and insulting them, blatantly stating that he doesn't want pity from people who he perceives to be even more useless than he is.
%%* DropInCharacter: In Season 4 and 5 after he's chipped.
* DudeWheresMyReward: In "Just Rewards," he gives off such a rant in response to his HeroicSacrifice in Sunnydale and [[OurGhostsAreDifferent current ghostly state]], particularly his jealousy of Angel for all he has as the current CEO of Wolfram & Hart:
-->'''Spike''': You got it too good! You're king of a thirty-floor castle, with all the cars, comfort, power, and glory you could ever want. Here I save the world, throw myself onto the proverbial hand grenade for love, honor, and all the right reasons, and what do I get? Bloody well toasted and ghosted is what I get, isn't it? It's not fair!
* EmbarrassingNickname: "William the Bloody" actually refers to his bloody awful poems, not blood drinking.
* EnvironmentalSymbolism: A sign saying BEWARE OF DOG is shown behind Spike on [[RunningGag several occasions]].
* EntitledBastard: After being [[RestrainingBolt chipped]] and pursued by the Initiative, he fully expects Buffy and the Scoobies to help him despite being one of their worst enemies at the time.
* EternalLove: What he hoped he had with Drusilla. Then they had a falling out.
* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: William's hope was to live in blissful trinity with his vampirized mum and Drusilla (to Dru's consternation). ThePlan went sour when [[IncestIsRelative his mum promptly tried to molest him]].
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Yes, Spike is a BloodKnight and is considered one of the most evil vampires in history, but nonetheless, he genuinely loved Drusilla and was devoted to her for a century.
* EvenEvilHasStandards:
** Spike has a low tolerance for "poseur" vampires who act above their station, believing they give the undead a bad name. Contrary to his love of brawling, he's also averse to wanton destruction; Spike enjoys the good life and isn't going to let Angelus destroy the world if he can help it.
** When Buffy snubs and insults him in "Fool for Love," Spike snaps and is fully prepared to blow her away with a SawnOffShotgun... until he sees her scared and crying over Joyce, who has to go to the hospital.
** He genuinely liked Buffy's mother, and is upset at her death.
** Contrary to Darla and Drusilla, even as a vampire Spike found some of Angelus' actions disgusting such as when Angelus deliberately slept with Drusilla just to get under Spike' skin. In modern times, Spike claimed Angelus only wanted another Spike around to try and make someone be as vile as him.
* EvilBrit: At first. Now he's more of an anti-heroic Brit.
* EvilCannotComprehendGood:
** In Season 4's "The Yoko Factor", Spike shows that he knows what ThePowerOfFriendship ''is'' ..., but also shows that he doesn't understand it yet. He identifies Buffy's friends as strong assets ... but is absurdly confident that ''he of all people'' can cause a permanent falling out between Buffy and the Scoobies on the eve before their big fight with [[BigBad Adam]]. Spike's sowing of discord causes a semi-dramatic quarrel that angers the Scoobies for all of a half episode. Then they rally about, and unleash epic ass-kicking. Friends fight, but friends apologize and make up too.
** In Season 6 "Dead Things" Buffy thinks she's accidentally killed an innocent bystander. Spike wants to dispose of the evidence and sweep the matter under the rug, and can't understand why Buffy wants to turn herself into the police.
--->'''Spike:''' Why are you doing this to yourself?\\
'''Buffy:''' ''[tearful]'' A girl is dead because of me.\\
'''Spike:''' And how many people are alive because of you? How many have you saved? One dead girl doesn't tip the scale.\\
'''Buffy:''' That's all it is to you, isn't it? Just another body! You can't understand why this is killing me, can you?
** This becomes inverted when Spike says that he won't let Buffy turn herself in because he loves her. Buffy responds by savagely beating Spike, [[RageAgainstTheReflection implying that she's the evil thing]] who can't comprehend Spike's selfless actions.
%%* EvilCounterpart:
* EvilIsPetty: He nonchalantly grabs Xander's radio when packing up to leave Xander's apartment. When Xander calls him on this, Spike replies, "And you're what, shocked and disappointed? I'm '' evil!''"
* EvilVersusOblivion: At the end of ''Buffy'' Season 2, he forms an EnemyMine with Buffy to stop Angelus' plan to awaken Acathla and [[DraggedOffToHell suck the whole world into Hell]]. He may be evil, but he actually enjoys human society and isn't about to let Angelus destroy everything.
* EvilerThanThou: At the very end of his debut episode, he personally kills the Anointed One and takes command of the remnants of the Order of Aurelius.
-->'''Spike''': From now on, we're gonna have a little less ''ritual'' and a little more ''fun'' around here!
* EvilVirtues: Spike displayed a few:
** '''[[AmbitionIsEvil Ambition]]''': Most vampires fear Slayers and will avoid drawing the attention of one if possible. Not Spike. The minute he found out there was a line of people with the job of killing his kind, he immediately devoted his life to finding and killing as many of them as he could. He succeeded in killing two before he met Buffy.
** '''[[VillainsNeverLie Honesty]]''': Spike isn't exactly honest, but he does seem to object to people lying for the sake of feeling better about themselves or of making others think more highly of themselves. As part of his EstablishingCharacterMoment, he tells a vampire who says "and I would know-I was at the Crucifixion" that "if every vampire who claimed they were at the Crucifixion was actually there, it would have been like Woodstock. And I would know-[[DeadpanSnarker I was at Woodstock]]." In his sole Season 3 appearance, there's also his "Love's Bitch" speech in which he calls out Buffy and Angel for denying that they're still in love, and it's clear that he's pissed-off by it.
** '''[[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes Love]]''': In their own sick, twisted way, Spike and Drusilla loved each other. Later on in the series, Spike comes to fall in love with [[spoiler:Buffy]].
** '''[[BloodKnight Passion]]''': Spike has a real passion for violence. When the Initiative chips him to make him incapable of hurting people, he tries to kill himself, only finding meaning in his own life again when he realizes he can still hurt demons.
** '''[[VillainousValour Valour]]''': See Ambition.
* ExpansionPackPast: It comes as a surprise to learn his entire persona is a lie. "Spike" is really William Pratt, a wimpy poet who was considered the runt of his original pack.
* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: His hair acts as something of a barometer of where he is on the Heel-Face spectrum at any one time. Usually, the more slicked down it is, the more evil he is, and the more tousled it is, the more good.
* FatalFlaw: Lack of impulse control is Spike's biggest weakness. It often ends up negating his intelligence and tactical abilities and lands him in hot water with the other heroes. Even post-soul he's been known to have this problem.
* FauxAffablyEvil: Before getting [[RestrainingBolt chipped]]. Comparing him to Mayor Wilkins is a good lesson in the difference between AffablyEvil and FauxAffablyEvil.
* ForTheEvulz: Before his HeelFaceTurn, Spike loved killing for the sake of it and didn't bother to give his victims another glance.
* FreudianExcuse: Two of them.
** The first was Spike siring his mother, who he adored, only for her to try and seduce him as a vampire, leading to him being forced to stake her. Naturally this would be very traumatic and likely sent him off the rails.
** The second is Angelus. It's been discussed in the show that Angelus made Spike evil (well, worse than he'd have been without it) and Spike hated that Angelus did so in order for there to be someone as disgusting as he was before as Liam and after as a vampire.
* FromNobodyToNightmare: He was an unsuccessful poet and MommasBoy as a human. He ultimately became a deadly vampire who [[HeroKiller killed not one, but two Slayers]], though he's still AlwaysSecondBest to Angelus.
* FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire: TropeNamer, though it was on ''Series/{{Angel}}'' and he was being sarcastic. Unlike Angel, he gets roped into saving people by a fork-tongued Lindsey [=McDonald=], attorney at law.
** Becomes this for real in the comics, including being friends with a police detective.
* FullyEmbracedFiend: To better contrast with Angel. Where Angel and Angelus are full-blown [[SplitPersonality split personalities]], Spike doesn't experience the same identity-crisis upon getting his soul back and remains at his core the same character. While the soul leads to insane ranting, self-mutilation and at least one SuicideByCop attempt, he never particularly angsts about being in a vampire body.
* GameBreakingInjury: Midway through Season 2, he's crushed by a collapsing pipe organ during a fight with Buffy and left wheelchair-bound for several episodes.
* GeniusBruiser: He might not know all that science stuff and whatnot, but he's a lot more cultured than he lets on and as smart as he is strong. He's just generally too impatient to use this to his full advantage.
* TheGlassesGotToGo: Needed them while alive, but tossed them afterward. His appearance gradually became more unkempt as he worked to build his reputation as a real killer - a street-fighting vampire.
* GoOutWithASmile: In the final episode of Season 7. Even as his flesh and muscle is being toasted off and the Hellmouth is crumbling around him, Spike still smirks and laughs as he crumbles to dust.
* GoodIsNotNice: Saves a woman from a vampire in a dark alley in "Soul Purpose", and then chews her out for being dumb enough to walk through an alley alone at night.
* GuiltyPleasures: Series/DawsonsCreek and Series/{{Passions}}.
* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: In Season 4, he constantly goes back and forth, helping anyone who's willing to help him. First, he helps the Scoobies in exchange for shelter and food, then he helps Adam in the hopes of having the chip removed, then when Adam goes back on the deal, he helps the Scoobies, and freely admits he's only doing so so they won't stake him for his betrayal. It's even lampshaded.
-->'''Xander:''' Spike's working for Adam?! After all we've done -- nah, I can't even act surprised.
* HeelFaceTurn: [[CharacterDevelopment Slowly over the course of four seasons]], but he goes from being one of Buffy's most dangerous enemies to one of her most trusted allies.
* HeelRealization: Oddly occurs well after his HeelFaceDoorSlam. A deranged Slayer kidnaps and tortures him, mistaking Spike for a man who tormented her during her childhood. [[spoiler: At the end, Spike realizes it didn't matter that he never laid a finger on the girl, because he'd done plenty worse to other people.]]
* HeroKiller: He's killed ''two'' past Slayers, a fact he takes much pride in.
* HeroicComedicSociopath: prior to getting his soul back, for a usually limited amount of heroic.
* HeroicSacrifice:[[spoiler: In the ''Buffy'' GrandFinale he dies keeping the Hellmouth closed.]] [[Series/{{Angel}} He gets]] [[UnexplainedRecovery better]].
* HeroWithAnFInGood: In Seasons 5 and 6, he frequently falls into this trope, often doing things not because it's right but because it's what Buffy would want.
-->'''Spike''': I'm not sampling, I'll have you know. Just look at all these lovely blood-covered people. I could, but not a taste for Spike, not a lick. Knew you wouldn't like it.
-->'''Buffy''': [[WantsAPrizeForBasicDecency You want credit for not feeding off bleeding disaster victims?]]
-->'''Spike''': Well, yeah.
-->'''Buffy''': You're disgusting.
-->'''Spike''': [[ComicallyMissingThePoint What's it take?]]
** It starts back in Season 4, when he's ''"forced"'' by his condition (he only could hurt monsters, but not humans) to fight alongside the good guys.
-->'''Spike''': What's this? Sitting around watching the telly while there's evil still afoot? It's not very industrious of you. I say, we go out there, and kick a little demon ass. What, can't go without your Buffy? Is that it? Too chicken? Let's find her. She is the Chosen One, after all. Come on! Vampires! Grrr! Nasty. Let's annihilate them. For justice, and for the safety of puppies, and Christmas, right? Let's fight that evil. Let's kill something. Oh, come on!
* HesBack: Spike gets more than one.
** When he discovers he can hurt demons, he promptly cuts loose and beats the shit out of one.
-->'''Spike:''' That's right! I'm back, and I'm a BLOODY ANIMAL! ''YEAH!!''
** In "Get It Done," he has a pretty epic one, complete with the return of the BadassLongcoat.
* HiddenDepths: He's surprisingly a pretty good judge of character:
** He's generally good at predicting Willow's behaviour; in "Something Blue" when Buffy and Giles think she's doing okay after her breakup with Oz, Spike scornfully points out that "she's hanging on by a thread!" He also accurately predicts her lying about not trying to get revenge on Glory. [[ArmorPiercingQuestion "What if it was Dawn?"]] is enough to let everyone know that yeah, if it takes a HeroicSacrifice then Willow's gonna do it.
** He has Buffy and Angel's relationship down to a tee: "You're ''not'' friends. You'll ''never'' be ''friends.'' You'll be in love 'til it kills you both. You'll fight, and you'll shag, and you'll hate each other 'til it make you quiver, but you'll never be ''friends."'' Buffy later admits he was spot-on: "I can fool my friends. I can even fool Giles. But I can't fool myself... or Spike, for some reason."
** He quickly susses that Tara's relatives have been lying about the women of the family becoming demons once they hit a certain age, in order to keep their womenfolk under control.
* HowTheMightyHaveFallen: When first introduced, he's well established as a HeroKiller and a ''very'' dangerous threat to Buffy and the Scoobies. Come Season 3, he's a drunken wreck after Drusilla dumps him, and it's taken even further after being [[RestrainingBolt chipped]], where he becomes the series' ButtMonkey and tries to stake himself.
* {{Hypocrite}}: In Season 2, he is against Angelus' plan to revive Acathla and [[DraggedOffToHell suck the world into hell]], and forms an EnemyMine with Buffy to stop it. That being said, he had previously resurrected the Judge, a NighInvulnerable demon with the power to destroy the world, as a birthday present to Drusilla.
* IAmVeryBritish: emphasises his accent and his fondness for punk rock. Ironically, however, the aspects he emphasises are very much working class when Spike himself is at least well educated upper middle class.
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: In Season 9, he wants Buffy to have as normal a life as possible and is avoiding any romantic entanglement with her because of it. He even says he would be thrilled if Detective Dowling wanted to date her. Both Dowling and Eldre Koh can tell that he's still carrying a torch.
** Gets called on it multiple times in Season 10. Xander calls him out on turning down Buffy's offer to try getting back together when it's obvious Spike still wants to be with her, and when he tries to later break up with Buffy out of fear he'll just utterly screw it up down the road, she lets him have it. Spike realizes that his own idolization of Buffy coupled with his low self-esteem and this trope are actually the real problems and relents.
* ImmortalImmaturity: He's a hundred and forty years old, and yet he mopes like a teenager when Drusilla breaks up with him. He gets some motherly advice from Joyce Summers, a human woman a fraction of his age. (The fraction in this case being 'less than a third but more than a quarter'.) Unlike his polar opposite, Angel, ''his'' flashbacks to the past usually involve a bonfire, [[ScooterRidingMod mod clothing]], or a disco.
--->'''Angel:''' Wait a minute.... '''I''' wasn't in Italy in the fifties!\\
'''Spike:''' Oh, right. Guess you weren't. ''({{beat}})'' Really missed out.
* IronButtMonkey: There's an [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YWV_Ta-304 entire video here]] detailing how often Spike gets his ass handed to him by just about everyone in the cast.
* JerkassHasAPoint:
** Spike's legendary "Love's Bitch" speech in Season 3:
--> '''Spike:''' You're not "friends." You'll ''never'' be friends. You'll be in love 'til it kills you both. You'll fight, and you'll shag and you'll hate each other 'til it makes you quiver, but you'll never be friends. Love isn't brains, children, it's blood. Blood screaming inside you to work its will. I may be love's bitch, but at least [[AtLeastIAdmitIt I'm man enough to admit it]].
** Buffy even acknowledges this later:
--> '''Buffy''': I can fool my friends. I can even fool Giles. But I can't fool myself... or Spike, for some reason.
** In "Pangs", the MonsterOfTheWeek is a Native American ghost who's killing white people the same way bounty hunters killed his people as revenge. [[SoapboxSadie Willow]] is reluctant to act because [[WhiteGuilt she feels really guilty about what the colonists did]], and everybody else is trying to convince her that they do have to fight him because he's killing innocent people. It's [[PoliticallyIncorrectHero Spike]] of all people that finally gets through to her. He points out that the Europeans invaded with better weapons, killed the natives and took their land, which the whole ''point'' of conquering new territories. Humans have been doing it for as long as they have been around ("It's what Caesar did, and he's not going around saying, "I came, I conquered, I felt really bad about it"). He then goes on to say that the Team is ''not'' going to be able to save anybody if they keep their PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad attitude up, and the ghost '''''does not care''''' if they feel bad for the gruesome actions of their ancestors -- it's pissed off and wants them all dead. When Willow then suggests that they could talk to the ghost, [[ArmorPiercingQuestion he asks her what she could possibly say to make him feel better about white people exterminating his tribe]], destroying any and all argument against fighting the ghost. This is especially poignant because Giles made those exact same points earlier.
--> '''Xander''': Maybe it's the syphilis talking, but some of that made sense.
** In Season 5, when Dawn found out she was the Key and Spike was with her, Buffy's immediate response was to go straight to his crypt and begin pummeling him for helping her, but Spike quickly turns the tables on her, pointing out that Dawn would have snuck into the Magic Box anyway and he felt she would be safer with a former BigBad looking over her shoulder, finishing by [[CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot telling Buffy point-blank that if she had simply told Dawn the truth in the first place, none of this would be happening]]; Buffy later admits he's right.
* HeartbrokenBadass: In Season 3, when Drusilla breaks up with him.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: After his HeelFaceTurn, he's still an asshole but he's heroic now.
* KnightOfCerebus: When Spike comes crashing through the Sunnydale welcome sign, gets out of his car and says "Home sweet home", it marks the beginning of a storyline that takes the entire series in a darker direction.
* KnightInSourArmor: After his HeelFaceTurn. He'll save lives and help the helpless, even if he doesn't really like it all that much, but you can also expect him to to give the saved person a roasting for being so damn stupid.
* TheLancer: To Buffy in Season 7. He's her lieutenant in all but name, is frequently seen at her shoulder, and always lets her know when he disagrees [[UndyingLoyalty before supporting her anyway]].
* LackOfEmpathy: Best shown in "Crush." For all the [[ComedicSociopathy comic shenanigans]], he casually steals from Xander, boasts to Dawn of murdering an entire family, uses and abuses his girlfriend Harmony, participates with Drusilla in the joint murder at the Bronze (he does hesitate to drink from the body, though possibly just because he's worried the chip will fire), kidnaps Buffy to force her to respond to his affections, and completely fails to see why this behavior would fill Buffy with revulsion, assuming she's just PlayingHardToGet.
* LaughablyEvil: "In the Dark." When he we next see him four seasons later, he's reformed his ways.
-->'''Cordelia:''' Heard you weren't evil anymore. Which kinda makes the hair silly.
* LaymansTerms: This became his gimmick during the gang's expository speeches (on both shows).
* LeeroyJenkins: On more than one occasion, his lack of patience has resulted in him heedlessly screwing up his own [[EvilPlan evil plans]].
-->'''Spike:''' I had ''a plan''!\\
'''Angel:''' You? A plan?\\
'''Spike:''' A good plan! Smart plan! Carefully laid out! ...But I got bored.
* LetsFightLikeGentlemen: In his first fight with Buffy in "School Hard." Despite being armed with an axe, he tosses it aside before taking on Buffy hand-to-hand. While Spike isn't exactly honorable, he ''is'' a BloodKnight who fights for the sake of fighting, so taking on Buffy equally was more entertaining to him. Of course, this comes back to bite him; when he has Buffy on the ropes and is about to finish her, [[MamaBear Joyce]] uses that very axe to bash him in the head and drive him off.
* LimitedWardrobe: He's rarely seen without his duster. Lampshaded when he refers to it as his second skin.
* LivingForeverIsAwesome: This sums up the differences between him and Angel in a nutshell; he doesn't regret becoming immortal, he revels in it.
* LivingLieDetector: Combined with BrutalHonesty. Mocks Buffy and Angel's attempts at being "JustFriends", points out that Willow is "hanging on by a thread" after breaking up with Oz, and accuses Buffy (and, by extension, all Slayers) of having a secret death wish in Season 5.
%%* LovableRogue
%%* LovableTraitor
* LoveHurts: As he says, love likes to make him its bitch.
* LoveMartyr: [[LampshadeHanging Lampshades]] it with both his character quote and the page quote.
-->'''Spike''': I may be love's bitch, but at least I'm man enough to admit it.
** Season 10 shows how it's a bad trait for him to have, with Harmony noting that it leads to him over-idealizing the people he loves and when he's unsure about relationships he starts causing problems just to make the other person break it off so he can played wounded martyr. Thankfully Spike manages to defy the trope in the end, initially trying to break up with Buffy before he causes problems to push her away and (after a well-earned chewing out from her) admits he should stop thinking of her as some symbol and really try to be with her as a person.
* LoveRedeems: Unlike Angel, whose soul was forced on him, he sought out someone to return his soul so he would be more like someone that Buffy deserves.
* TheMadHatter: In early Season 7. While he's clearly suffering from SanitySlippage, Spike knows it, and at several points, his usual DeadpanSnarker attitude shines through.
-->'''Buffy''': Spike, have you ''completely'' lost your mind?\\
'''Spike''': Well, yes. Where have you been all night?
* ManchurianAgent: In the seventh season, the First forces him to kill again whenever he hears "Early One Morning."
* ManipulativeBastard: When he puts his mind to it, Spike is quite adept at using others' feelings against them, such as when he drove a wedge between the Scoobies with just a few insightful comments.
* MayflyDecemberRomance: With Buffy, the mortal human. Though the trope is less obvious than with Angel, due to Spike being a PopCulturedBadass. However when they get back together in Season 10, Spike brings it up as a potential issue in the relationship.
* MeanCharacterNiceActor: While Spike runs up and down the scale from vicious bastard to anti-hero, James Marsters is a very easygoing man, and the DVD extras for the show demonstrate that he's quick with a joke, very friendly with the cast and crew, and always willing to take an extra moment to speak with his fans. For the one scene where Spike attempted to rape Buffy, Marsters was so repulsed and disgusted by the violence of the scene that he insisted it be shot as quickly as possible and apologized profusely to Sarah Michelle Gellar both before and after (he credits Gellar's support and professionalism with helping him get through it). Afterwards, he instructed his agent to have it specifically written into his contract that he ''will not'' take part in any rape scenes, period.
%%* MenacingStroll
* AMillionIsAStatistic: Many fans lost all respect for him after his AttemptedRape of Buffy. They were perfectly okay with him killing thousands in horrible ways as a soulless vampire because it happened mostly offscreen. And not just killing - "Do you know what I've done to girls Dawn's age?"
* MommasBoy: He turned his mother into a vamp so they can be together forever. It's also the root of his attraction to Drusilla, his sire.
* MonsterRoommate: Was this for Xander in Seasons 4 and 7, to their mutual dislike. Season 10 has him sharing an apartment with Xander willingly as they've managed to become friends.
* MoreThanMindControl: Pulls this off on the Scoobies in Season 4, exploiting the existing tensions within the Scooby Gang (Buffy's intense focus on her newfound relationship with Riley, Giles' feelings of uselessness, Xander's lack of direction, and Willow's recent gay relationship with Tara) in order to DivideAndConquer. As he himself points out, he didn't create said tensions, he just manipulated them and brought them to the surface.
* MrFanservice: Moreso than even Mr. Boreanaz, given his tendency for the WalkingShirtlessScene.
* MusicalTrigger: The First takes control of Spike with the folk song "Early One Morning," which Spike's mother often sang to him when he was human.
* NerdInEvilsHelmet: It's made very clear that he often over-emphasizes how "evil" he is in an attempt to save face when people start to notice his softer side (he chokes and acts outright offended when Dawn claims to feel safe with him in Season 5). Add in his tendency to watch soap operas and well-buried love of poetry...
* TheNicknamer:
** Spike's names for Illyria include "The Leather Queen", "[[Comicbook/RedSonja Fred Sonja]]", "Little [[Myth/HinduMythology Shiva]]", "[[Myth/PaulBunyan Babe the Blue Ox]]", and "[[WesternAnimation/YellowSubmarine Blue Meanie]]".
** Angel is "Peaches", "Ol' Broody-pants", and "Captain Forehead".
** Riley is "Captain Cardboard".
%%* NobleDemon: After the start of his HeelFaceTurn.
* NotEvenBotheringWithAnExcuse: In "Triangle," he brushes off Xander's request that he try to fight Olaf the Troll because he's "paralyzed by not caring very much."
* NotSoHarmlessVillain: This becomes his hat in Season 4. Buffy and company get used to thinking of his as harmless thanks to the chip implanted in his head that prevents him from physically attacking any humans, but he occasionally shows them that he could still cause them problems or even get them all killed, even if he can't attack them directly.
** When Faith wakes up from her coma and plans to go on a rampage against the group, Giles and Xander run into Spike, and because he's lived with them, fought demons together with them a few times, and generally been unable to harm them, they make the mistake of assuming he'll be an ally. They ask him if he's heard anything about Faith, and Spike feigns concern, which makes them fill him in on the whole Faith situation (as Spike has never seen or heard of Faith before) complete with a physical description and the fact that she's looking for vengeance against the group. With this information in hand, Spike announces that he's going to find the rogue Slayer so he can tell her where Buffy's friends are so she can kill them all. And thanks to their assumption that he's harmless, he even has a rough description of the person he should be looking for.
--->'''Spike:''' What do you need?\\
'''Xander:''' Her. Dark hair, [raises a hand to about Faith's height] ye tall, name of Faith, criminally insane.\\
'''Spike:''' Is this bird after you?\\
'''Xander:''' In a ''bad'' way, yeah.\\
'''Spike:''' Tell you what I'll do then: head out, find this girl, tell her exactly where all of you are, then watch as she kills you. [Spike smiles at Xander and Giles, then sighs in annoyance at their shocked expressions] Can anyone in your damn little Scooby club at least try to remember that I ''hate'' you all. Just cause I can't do the damage myself doesn't stop me from aiming a loose cannon your way.
** Near the end of Season 4, he manipulates the existing tensions within Buffy's friends and successfully gets them to turn against one another.
* NotSoDifferent: To Buffy -- they love to fight (and when forced to fight together, cooperate instinctively), refuse to be bound by tradition, and seem addicted to doomed unconventional relationships. Spike pushes this line when trying to court Buffy in Seasons 5 and 6; and while Buffy angrily denies the idea it's clear she also secretly believes him, fueling her decision to enter into a DestructiveRomance that highlights all the ways they're ''not'' alike.
** Season 10 notes he's also become this to Angel after getting his soul back. The best difference Spike can think of on short notice is that [[LameComeback he's English and Angel is Irish.]]
* NotWorthKilling: In Season 4's "Doomed," Xander, during his TheReasonYouSuckSpeech, remarks that, though he knows that he could easily kick Spike's ass as a result of his being [[RestrainingBolt chipped]], he's so pathetic right now that he's not worth the effort.
* ObfuscatingDisability: After healing from his GameBreakingInjury in Season 2, he continues to pretend to be crippled to deflect suspicion while he plots against Angelus.
* OddFriendship: With Joyce. The two shared several [[VillainOverForDinner hot chocolate moments]] together and talk about ''Series/{{Passions}}''.
* OnlyInItForTheMoney: During Season 4 and most of Season 5, when he wasn't helping the Scoobies for the sake of a good fight, he was giving them info or combat assistance in exchange for cash.
* OnlySaneMan: Quickly assumes he's this when Glory's spell makes everyone forget Glory is Ben every time he explains it to them.
* OpenMouthInsertFoot: Does this often when he's trying to court Buffy.
* OurGhostsAreDifferent: Temporarily turned incorporeal after he burns up in the Hellmouth. Angel's amulet brings him back as a ghost, though one that is radiating heat. Also, according to Fred's scans, Spike had no ectoplasm; thus, he technically wasn't a ghost.
* PapaWolf: One consistent character trait of his, both before and after getting his soul back, is that he is violently protective of Dawn.
* PetTheDog: Even before he was [[RestrainingBolt chipped]], he honestly liked Buffy's mother Joyce, visiting her in Season 3 to have a friendly chat.
* PoisonousCaptive: In Season 4, Spike was often this to the Scoobies.
* PopularityPower: he was originally intended to be a one-shot vilain, but a combination of his popularity and the fact that the actor playing the Anointed One was getting a little old to convincingly pull off the eternal child thing meant that he stuck around.
* PragmaticVillainy: Pre-HeelFaceTurn, the majority of his plans were to-the-point attempts at killing Buffy and the Scoobies or healing [[IllGirl Drusilla]]. This becomes especially noticeable once [[{{Sadist}} Angelus]] enters the picture and begins [[BreakTheCutie playing drawn-out mind games]] with Buffy, much to Spike's dismay.
* PromotionToOpeningTitles: From Season 4 onwards.
%%* PropheticName: "Pratt" = "idiot" in English parlance.
* PunchClockHero: In Season 4. Due to the Initiative's chip, he can't hurt humans, but he ''can'' hurt demons. In general, he either helps the Scoobies out because they pay him for his services, or simply to sate his BloodKnight tendencies.
* QuizzicalTilt: His CharacterTic is this.
* RealMenWearPink: He knows that he's man enough to admit that he's love's bitch. He's not just saying it too. He's one bad vampire.
** Despite being ready to deride Angel as a prancing poof, he's got an affinity for poetry, gothic jewelry and black nail polish.
** While held hostage by the Scoobies in Season 4, his biggest concern is missing the next episode of ''Series/{{Passions}}''.
** In the comics, rescues kittens from kitten poker and keeps them as pets. He genuinely seems to enjoy them in later issues.
* RebelRelaxation: When you're a ghost, there's not much else to do but kick back and annoy the hell out of Angel.
* RedBaron: When Hell-A is split up between various demon "Lords", Spike crowns himself Lord of Beverly Hills. (''After the Fall'')
* ReformedButRejected: Even after his attempts at redemption, he is almost never really trusted by the Scoobies, who continually hound him with abuse and scorn. On the other hand, 120 years of him killing for fun. Plus, when he was originally forced to beg for their help, he spent a lot of time telling them how much he hated them and how he was going to kill them all, first chance he got. The abuse and scorn wasn't exactly one-sided. Even when he started trying to be what Buffy wanted, some of his attempts were... off, and the gang knew quite well that he was motivated by feelings for Buffy rather than a genuine desire for redemption. There's a difference. Even if he was planning not to repeat his past evil actions, he didn't actually feel remorse for them. Speaking pre-Season 7.
* ReminiscingAboutYourVictims: Is fond of recalling the Slayers he has killed.
* RestrainingBolt: Once the Initiative puts a chip in his head, he was unable to kill humans. Other vampires and demons, however, are fair game.
* {{Retcon}}: Angel being his sire and that he respected him. Flashbacks show Drusilla sired him and that he and Angel were always at each other's throats. WordOfGod explains this by saying that vamps refer to anyone in their bloodline before them as their sire, so Spike would refer to Darla and The Master as his sires too.
** The former could perhaps be explained by the fact that most of his unlife had passed since he last saw Angel for any length of time, and when Angel left after being ensouled, he was just starting to make his own reputation as a terrifying master vampire. His initial joy at Angelus' return quickly pales when he realises that this relegates him to second fiddle.
* TheRival:
** To Angel, as revenge for all those times Angelus humiliated him and stole his girlfriend. Then the Shanshu prophecy mentions a vampire with a soul, not Angel specifically; of course, Spike's interest in the Shanshu is more about trying to one-up Angel than becoming human again.
** He butted heads with Riley on frequent occasions.
* SanitySlippage: During early Season 7; being tormented by his restored conscience after having his soul returned, along with harassment from the First Evil, largely reduced Spike to a babbling, incoherent mess who freely admits he's gone "bug-shagging crazy."
* SayingTooMuch: After his Yoko Factor plan successfully splits up the Scoobies during Season 4, Spike has a subsequent encounter with Buffy and mentions her falling out with her friends; as he wasn't actually there when the Scoobies had their big fight, Buffy puts two-and-two together and realizes that Spike set them up.
* SirSwearsALot: Some of this is due to DidNotDoTheBloodyResearch, but it's also a character trait.
* SmokingIsCool: Smokes Morley cigarettes and looks badass doing it.
* SourSupporter: After being chipped, he helps but he hates it. He becomes a more enthusiastic Scooby after falling in love with Buffy.
* SpotlightStealingSquad: Like it or not, Spike eventually became the center of gravity for the entire cast. This started out gradually, kicking into overdrive once Marti Noxon took the helm. There's a reason it's just him and Buffy on the Season 7 box.
* StalkerWithACrush: How he acts initially after falling in love with Buffy. He breaks into her house repeatedly, gathers pictures, [[PervertedSniffing smells her laundry]], loiters around her house, and even makes a StalkerShrine to her. When Buffy finally realizes what's going on, she's disgusted and has Willow [[MustBeInvited revoke his invitation]]
* StatingTheSimpleSolution: Happens quite a bit in Season 2 with Angelus' return. While Angelus insists on [[BondVillainStupidity playing mind games]] with Buffy and the Scoobies, Spike insists that he should just kill Buffy before she gets really mad and kills them all. He's proven right: when Angelus kills Giles' LoveInterest Jenny Calendar, not only did they have to contend with a ''very'' pissed-off Slayer, but she was [[{{Pun}} hot]] on the heels of her Watcher, who [[KillItWithFire set their hideout on fire with a Molotov cocktail]] before beating Angelus senseless with a flaming baseball bat.
-->'''Spike:''' Why don't you rip her lungs out? It might make an impression.\\
'''Angelus:''' Lacks... poetry.\\
'''Spike:''' It doesn't have to. What rhymes with lungs?
* TheStarscream: First to the Anointed One, then to Angelus, both successfully.
* StartOfDarkness: "Fool for Love" talks about Drusilla siring him back when he was "William Pratt".
%%* StreetSmart
* StrongAndSkilled: Being over 120+ years old, Spike is considerably stronger and faster than other vampires, and nearly beat Buffy in their first fight. He's also quite a skilled fighter, able to adapt to the power of the [[PhysicalGod godlike]] Illyria, dodge her blows, and even get a few shots in himself.
* StylisticSuck: Spike's bloody awful poetry.
-->"''Effulgent''"?
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Spike was initially brought into the group as a way of filling the gap left by Cordelia. Joss felt the absence of both Cordy ''and'' Oz left the heroes without a dissenting voice.
* TeethClenchedTeamwork: Whenever he's forced to work with Angel; the two just can't resist snarking at each other.
* ThereIsAnother: Spike gradually takes on the 'Angel' mantle in Seasons 5-7, whereupon he gets treated to guilt, hallucinations, [[ReducedToRatburgers eating rats]] -- the works.
-->'''Robin Wood:''' Because [[EntertaininglyWrong the military gave him a soul]]?
* TheThingThatWouldNotLeave: After he gets chipped, he ends up playing "annoying house-guest" to both Xander and Giles. Among other failings, he eats Giles's entire supply of weetabix.
-->"I thought vampires were supposed to eat blood?"
-->"Yeah, well, sometimes [[TooMuchInformation I like to crumble up the weetabix in the blood.]] Gives it a little texture."
* ThisIsForEmphasisBitch: What's he [[StalkerWithACrush doing outside Buffy's house]]? Five words or less. He's "Out. For. A. Walk." *{{Beat}}* "Bitch."
* ThrowingOffTheDisability: Ends up in a wheelchair after a [[PianoDrop church organ falls on him]], but he gets better in a few episodes' time. Though he [[ObfuscatingDisability kept up the charade to deflect Angelus' suspicion]].
* TokenEvilTeammate: Was this to the Scoobies during Season 4 and part of Season 5; he only helped them out for money or for the sake of a good fight, and stated on multiple occasions that once he found a way to have his chip removed, he was going to kill them.
* TookALevelInBadass: Heralded by adopting the name Spike. After being kicked around a bit in the main series, he also took one in ''Angel'', in which he fought Angel and ''won''. Bear in mind this is the Angel who, after getting his own spin-off, also TookALevelInBadass.
* TookALevelInKindness: While it started as a [[StalkerWithACrush creepy obsession]] about Buffy, he genuinely became a nicer guy around after the time Glory tortured him, and it ''more or less'' continued upwards. [[HeadbuttingHeroes Except towards Angel. He'll always be a dick to Angel.]]
** In the comic continuation he's taken another level, seeming making more of an effort to keep a handle on his temper and reason with the rest of the Scoobies. His restarted relationship with Buffy often leaves him in a good position to use that skill with her when she and Willow have a falling out, admitting he's on Buffy's side by default but also explaining why Willow's position makes sense. After [[spoiler: Dawn and Xander stay behind in another dimension]] he initially is too upset to even hug Buffy, but after the initial shock wears off is the only one of the Scoobies not to engage in infighting to the point of not speaking and essentially becomes the team's ''voice of reason'' with Dawn and Xander both temporarily unavailable.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Aside from blood, obviously, he fancies those onion blossoms and buffalo wings served at The Bronze, even though he can't digest them. He also likes to sprinkle Wheatabix into his blood bags for "texture."
* TrenchcoatBrigade: Spike is rarely seen without his trademark coat.
%%* TroubledButCute
* {{Tsundere}}:
** After he develops a crush on Buffy. "[[MusicalEpisode First he'll kill her, then I'll save her... No, I'll save her]], ''[[IfWeSurviveThis then]]'' [[MusicalEpisode I'll kill her...]]"
-->Spike to Buffy, after he's caught [[StalkerWithACrush lurking outside her house]]: "And I never really liked you anyway, and [[LameComeback and you have stupid hair]] (''{{beat}}'') [''Leaves'']."
** Played shallowly in his fling with Harmony, where the Deredere is mostly an act, partly a rebound crush, and the Tsuntsun is because she's [[MotorMouth that annoying]].
* UndeadTaxExemption: Discussed in Season 10; Spike remarks to Xander that it would be a challenge for him to get a job, pointing out that he has no social security number, can't work daytime shifts, and has a hundred year gap in his resume; he explains that most vampires support themselves by [[RobbingTheDead robbing their kills]], which his soul prevents him from doing. Xander suggests he get a job as a consultant for the S.F.P.D.'s supernatural crimes unit, which Spike confesses isn't a bad idea.
* UndyingLoyalty: After the Scoobies kick Buffy out of the house in favor of Faith, Spike is the only one of them to remain by her side; his support helps Buffy get back her self-confidence and win back the Scoobies' loyalty.
* UnexplainedRecovery: Lampshaded by Spike himself. "Flash-fried in a pillar of fire saving the world. I got better."
%%* UpperClassTwit: Before he met Drusilla.
* VillainCred: In "Just Rewards," both Wesley and Angel remark that Spike's reputation for evil and bloodshed is [[AlwaysSecondBest second only to that of Angelus']]. He's noted by Lloyd to be a "legendary dark warrior" in "Grave," and he also has quite an infamous rep for having [[HeroKiller killed two previous Slayers before Buffy]].
* VillainOverForDinner: In his one Season 3 appearance, Spike visited Joyce and had hot chocolate with her.
* VillainsOutShopping: In "A New Man", Giles and Spike run into each other while Spike is 'house hunting' -- visiting crypts with a tape measure. Spike has also been seen walking home with groceries, playing 20 questions with his girlfriend, and hanging out in bars.
* VitriolicBestBuds: With Angel. They constantly bicker and state on more than one occasion that they hate each other, but are shown on more than one occasion to have some kind of affection for each other: in "School Hard," Spike seems genuinely happy to see Angel and even ''hugs'' him.
%%* WallGlower
* WantsAPrizeForBasicDecency: In "Triangle," he tries to impress Buffy by helping people injured in a roof collapse, and wants credit for not drinking their blood. This disgusts Buffy, but he actually has a point: he is a soulless monster who feeds on humans so restraining himself from drinking their blood really ''is'' a noteworthy effort from him.
* WarriorPoet: Literally as he was a poet before he was transformed into a kickass vampire. ''Angel'' shows that he still writes them, and the comics continually bring it up.
* WeakButSkilled: While testing Illyria's powers, Spike (who is usually no slouch in the strength department) gets knocked around the room constantly by her godlike strength, commenting that she hits "like a mack-truck". Over time he begins to adapt and dodge her blows and gets a few shots in. Illyria disparages him as being weak for adapting and compromising, to which Spike retorts that it is a strength because he is ''learning''.
* WhamLine: Several.
** '''Season 2:''' "Oh, I will. [[ThrowingOffTheDisability Sooner than you think.]]"
** '''Season 5:''' "Buffy, [[AnguishedDeclarationOfLove I love you]]. God, I love you so much. [[AllJustADream ...]][[CatapultNightmare Oh, God, no]]. [[LoveEpiphany Please, no]]."
** '''Season 6:''' Not by him, but about him.
--> '''Spike:''' "So you'll give me what I want. Make me what I was. So Buffy can get what she deserves."
--> '''Demon:''' "Very well. We will return...[[spoiler:your soul]]."
* WhatTheHellHero: In Season 7, he gives such a speech to the Scoobies when he discovers that they ousted Buffy from the group.
* WhatYouAreInTheDark: In "Intervention," he's kidnapped by Glory, who [[JackBauerInterrogationTechnique brutally tortures him]] for information on [[MacGuffin the Key]]. Spike knows that Dawn is the Key, and all of the Scoobies, Buffy included, firmly believe that Spike will sell them out and that they have to [[KilledToUpholdTheMasquerade kill him before he does]]. Instead, Spike endures the torture and [[DefiantToTheEnd openly mouths off to Glory]], later confessing to Buffy (who was posing as Spike's [[SexBot Buffybot]] at the time) that he couldn't live with himself if anything happened to Dawn and was perfectly willing to ''let'' Glory kill him first.
* WildCard: Spike has a natural ability to upset the expected order of things, especially with Buffy and Angel/us. During his sole appearance in Season 3, Mayor Wilkins outright describes him as a loose cannon and arranges a "welcoming committee" to get rid of him.
* TheWorfEffect: If someone's ass is gonna get kicked to show how powerful the BigBad, odds are that it'll be Spike drawing the short straw.
* XMustNotWin: By his own admission, this is the main reason he's interested in becoming the Shanshu Prophecy's ChosenOne; he just wants to one-up Angel.
* YouAreNumberSix: The Initiative brands him "Hostile 17".
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Andrew]]
!!Andrew Wells
[[quoteright:250:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ba8159cf82c25a5d2ac7843e993205e8.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:250:''"I admit I went over to the Dark Side, but only to pick up a few things."'']]
->'''Played By:''' Tom Lenk

-->''"Join me on a new voyage of the mind. A little tale I like to call: Buffy, Slayer of the Vampyrs."''

Member of the Trio, and hopelessly nerdy. Skilled at summoning demons and making sci-fi references. Spends a few episodes in Season 7 as the Scoobies' prisoner before they start trusting him. Later becomes a Watcher in the Slayer Organization, running the Rome squad. After the destruction of the Seed of Wonder, he moves to San Francisco along with most of the other Scoobies.
----
* TwentyPercentMoreAwesome: When he shows up on ''Series/{{Angel}}'', Andrew boasts that he's become "82 percent more manly" than the last time Spike saw him.
* AccentUponTheWrongSyllable: He has a pretty unique way of pronouncing "Vampire" and certain other words.
* ADayInTheLimelight: Season 7's "Storyteller", which sums up the current situation from his point-of-view.
* {{Adorkable}}: Less so when he's a villain, where any adorableness comes from how ineffectual he is. The comic seasons bring a little more in with his geekery and enthusiasm.
* AltumVidetur: He displays a knowledge of Latin several times in the show and comics.
* AmbiguousDisorder: Displays a fair amount of social ineptitude; plus he tends to alter events in his own mind to not only make himself seem cooler, but also erase any past guilt, such as making believe that killing Jonathan would allow him to become a god alongside Warren.
* AmbiguouslyGay: The actor who plays him is quite openly gay, and Creator/JossWhedon decided to toy with the notion.
** It's lampshaded in "Life Serial."
-->'''Jonathan''': All right, now you have to hold hands.
-->'''Andrew''': With each other?
-->'''Warren''': Well, you know what homophobia ''really'' means about you, don't you?
** Taken UpToEleven in his ''Angel'' appearance (where he was flanked by two MsFanservice examples), and then again in the comics, which had him as unimpressed with [[GirlOnGirlIsHot walking in on two girls making out]] and implying that his ''Angel'' cameo was a feint.
** As of Season 10, issue 11, it's no longer ambiguous.
* TheAtoner: Though initially forced into it by the Scoobies, Andrew makes it his personal mission in Season 7 to start doing the right thing. Episodes like "First Date" and "Storyteller" highlight this.
** Crops up again in Season 10 where he tries to [[spoiler: resurrect Jonathon and Tara]] and his plot is tied up in how guilty he feels for killing Jonathon. He also feels like the Scoobies distrust him, and admits they would do so with good reason [[spoiler: given his Season 9 robot plan.]]
* BigBadDuumvirate: Forms one with Jonathan and Warren to become the Trio, but Warren turns out to be far more evil than the other two could ever hope to be.
* BigDamnKiss: Gets one with Clive, which is when he figures out his sexuality.
* ButtMonkey: In Season 7, though really no more than he deserved, having previously been a villain.
** Again in Season 10, constantly being the butt of jokes and having villains not know who he is in comparison to the other Scoobies. He again deserves it [[spoiler: given the Buffybot incident in Season 9.]]
* CameraFiend: In "Storyteller", where he attempts to make a documentary about Buffy and the current events in Sunnydale.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: To an extent, generally to inject some comedy into a tense sitution. Going on a hunt for the demon lord Archaeus? Andrew brings banana walkie talkies.
* DelusionsOfEloquence: Occasionally he will act as if he's a high class gentleman, only for that facade to quickly break when he reverts to his immature self.
* EvilFeelsGood: As Season 6 goes on, he becomes enamored with the idea of getting away with crimes; by the time of "Seeing Red," he's gleefully cheering for Warren to kill Buffy.
* FakeGuestStar: Appears in 15 of the 22 episodes during the final season.
* FatalFlaw: Andrew often goes off to do things without informing anyone else of his plans, leading to everyone else getting blindsided when things go wrong. In Season 9, he [[spoiler: replaces Buffy with a robot decoy without telling anyone]] and in Season 10 he [[spoiler: goes behind the group's back to try and resurrect Jonathon and Tara.]] He learns his lesson mid-Season 10 and [[spoiler: tells the team when the Sculptor tries to win him over instead of acting unilaterally.]]
** He also has a tendency to overreact. In small doses this leads to people finding him obnoxious. But [[spoiler: the Jonathon Copy]] used it against him by showing him things the Scoobies, Clive, and another guy Andrew dated said about him out of context in order to upset him into breaking away from the group. This pushed Andrew so far he nearly abandoned the group.
* GadgeteerGenius: Shown off more in the comics. By Season 10, he uses his inventions to keep up with the gang on patrol and brings over experimental weapons for battles.
* GenreSavvy: Being geeks, however, he and the other members of the Trio are smart enough to avert/take into consideration certain things when carrying out their evil plans. They're still not as clever as they think.
** Tries this with the Vampyr book in Season 10, but it doesn't like his attempts at retcon and cliche.
* HeelFaceTurn: His arc in Season 7 is about him trying to do the right thing following his murder of [[spoiler:Jonathan.]] "First Date" shows where his newfound allegiance lies.
* HeelRealization: Provokes an in-story TearJerker moment from him when he finally allows himself to realize just how cruel his betrayal of Jonathan was.
-->'''Buffy:''' When your blood pours out, it might save the world. What do you think about that? Does it buy it all back? Are you redeemed?
-->'''Andrew:''' No!
-->'''Buffy:''' Why not?
-->'''Andrew:''' Because I killed him! Because I listened to Warren, and I pretended I thought it was him, but I knew I knew it wasn't. [[spoiler:And I killed Jonathan]]. And now you're gonna kill me. And I'm scared, and I'm going to die. And this this is what Jonathan felt.
%%* HeKnowsTooMuch: The First makes him something of a priority that needs a quick killing.
* IgnoredEnamoredUnderling: Works for Warren out of love but Warren couldn't care less.
* ItsAllMyFault: Takes the fact that Simone turned evil while he was her Watcher very hard, and is determined to find and stop her.
* IRejectYourReality: Andrew has an unfortunate tendency to distort his own past.
* LaughablyEvil: His attempts to become the dastardly supervillain he wants to be comically fail, though his actions do quite a bit of harm in "Normal Again."
* LoveMakesYouEvil: It's all but outright stated that he was in love with Warren.
* MadScientist: Even with the Slayer army, he never stops experimenting with demon summoning and DNA, even breeding a dangerous demon back into existence.
* {{Mentors}}: To the Slayer squad in Rome.
* MustMakeAmends: He spends most of Season 7 trying to make up for his "Member of the Trio" stuff. Exploited by the Sculptor in Season 10 to try to get him to [[spoiler: give over the scythe in exchange for the demon making a body for the AI copy of Jonathn's mind.]]
* MyFriendsAndZoidberg: Buffy, at one point, says, "My friends... My family... Andrew..." Even by Season 10 he's still the most separate of the Scoobies, while all the others all live in the same apartment building -- to the point where the Big Bad doesn't know who he is.
* NeverMyFault: His attitude throughout "Two to Go," insisting that they didn't do anything and Dark Willow has no reason to come after them. Jonathan disagrees, reminding Andrew they signed on with Warren:
-->'''Andrew''': Why is she doing this? Tell her we didn't do anything!\\
'''Jonathan''': Yes, we did. We signed on, we teamed up. We wanted to see where our plans would take us? Well, take a look.
* NoodleIncident: Summoning flying monkeys to ruin a production of ''RomeoAndJuliet''. Never shown on screen, and Buffy and the Scoobies have no memory of it.
* NotSoHarmlessVillain: Andrew is mostly harmless, but he shows a giddy excitement when [[spoiler:the Trio kill Katrina]] and seemingly get away with it, and he later [[spoiler:kills Jonathan after being pressured into it by the First Evil.]]
* {{Omniglot}}: Good at speaking demon languages as well as summoning them.
* PluckyComicRelief: In Season 7.
* RememberTheNewGuy: Averted. He constantly has to remind others of his OffscreenMomentOfAwesome, which nobody remembers on their own.
* TheRenfield: Acts as Warren's eager accomplice after being excited by the notion of them getting away with murder.
* ReplacementFlatCharacter: To the Xander Harris of old, providing butt monkey style much of Season 7's comic relief. Andrew too eventually gets a dose of CharacterDevelopment.
* RunningGag: "Who?" "Tucker's brother."
** Taken UpToEleven in Season 10 where the BigBad is unable to remember who he is in the finale despite him having been around all season and invovled heavily in most arcs. Andrew even lampshades that he's been there the entire time.
* TheStoryteller: Which serves as the basis for an entire episode, appropriately titled "Storyteller." The comics have the Scoobies invoke this trope when they have to deal with the Vampyr book in Season 10, but Andrew's acknowledges of various methods of retcon are all rejected by the book (which hates blatant retcons and cliche).
* SixthRanger: Very prevelant in Season 10, where he is the only member of the Scoobies to live apart from the rest and the BigBad doesn't even know his name during the final confrontation.
* SummonMagic: He has some magical ability such at summoning demons.
* SycophanticServant: To Warren, who he was in love with.
* ThoseTwoGuys: With Jonathan. No one can remember him, just "Tucker's Brother".
* TookALevelInBadAss: During the final battle of Season 8 in the hole in the ground formerly known as Sunnydale, Andrew is seen killing several demons. He takes another level when he drugs Buffy and puts her mind into a Buffybot he built so she can be protected. Naturally, Buffy and Spike [[WhatTheHellHero give him hell for it]].
** Season 10 shows him putting his gadgets to good use to keep up with the gang on patrols and demon hunts, including goggles that can see levels of magical wardings and UV-ray guns to fight vampires with. When it comes time for the final battle he brings the team a ton of experimental weapons to use.
* TransparentCloset: The only person who was surprised by Andrew coming out of the closet was [[EverybodyKnewAlready Andrew himself]]. Played for drama in that Andrew later admits that he wonders what it says about himself that everyone else knew and he didn't, and so he appreciates Xander's over the top acceptance because it feels like a big deal to ''him'' even if everyone else already knew.
* UnreliableNarrator: "Storyteller", which involves his tendency to change the narrative of events to make himself appear more guiltless or cooler in general. Crops up again when he appears on Angel.
** Does this for the other characters in the comics sometimes when telling other people about them. When explaining Spike's status as a good, souled vampire to two rescuees, he uses such romantic terms that the two women and he end up sighing.
* WhatTheHellHero: In Season 9, Buffy and Spike give him complete and total hell after he swaps Buffy's mind into a robot after roofieing her at a party, in order to protect her from an unknown BigBad that is after her. He did this without telling anyone else what he did. This leads to Buffy thinking she is pregnant due to limitations of the robot body, but discovers that she is a robot when her arm gets chopped off. Spike even threatens to kill Andrew if he doesn't fix the situation.
* YouLookFamiliar: Tom Lenk appeared in "Real Me" as Cyrus, one of Harmony's minions. She had trouble remembering his name, too.
[[/folder]]

!Former Members

[[folder:Angel]]
!!![[Characters/AngelInvestigations See Angel Investigations]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Cordelia]]
!!![[Characters/AngelInvestigations See Angel Investigations]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Anya]]
!!Anya Christina Emmanuella Jenkins, formerly Anyanka, née Aud
[[quoteright:250:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/9cd2aa57d1949e92b80af149707ad420.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:250:''"It's an omen! It's a higher power trying to tell me through bunnies that we're all gonna die! Oh god!"'']]
->'''Played By:''' Creator/EmmaCaulfield

-->''" I was feared and worshipped across the mortal globe and now I'm stuck at Sunnydale High. A mortal! A child! And [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking I'm flunking math.]]"''

Originally a 1,120-year-old vengeance demon who lost her powers and eventually joined the Scooby Gang. She was a LoveInterest for Xander for three seasons before their relationship ended, and she went back to being a Vengeance Demon. Lost her powers and rejoined the Scoobies in early Season 7.
----
* ActionGirl: She's a MagicKnight, being more than competent in magic as well as physical fighting.
* AmbiguousDisorder: "Selfless" reveals that her quirks are an inherent part of her personality, not just the result of living as a demon for a thousand years, and she was considered odd by her neighbors in Sjornjost too.
* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: Her relationship with Willow is meant to be like this; [[ImmortalImmaturity despite being thousands of years older than Willow, she's more naive and immature]], which Willow is frequently annoyed by.
* AscendedExtra: Originally intended as a one-shot villain for "The Wish."
* BecomingTheMask: After she becomes stuck as a high school girl, she experiences a strange urge to have Xander invite her to the prom, despite claiming to loathe all men.
* BeenThereShapedHistory: According to one flashback, she was responsible for [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolution_of_1905 the 1905 Revolution in Russia.]]
* BeingEvilSucks: The second time she becomes a vengeance demon, she gets no pleasure out of the work whatsoever.
* BeingHumanSucks: She often complains about how she's powerless as a human, but her main concern is that she's now mortal and will eventually die.
%%* BreakTheCutie: Following "Hell's Bells", she is never really the same again.
* BrutalHonesty: "I hate us! Everybody's so ''nice''. Nobody says what's on their mind."
** Her reputation for BrutalHonesty, being a DeadpanSnarker, and basically being an insensitive bitch lead to one of the most powerful and poignant TearJerker moments in the entire series: her emotional breakdown after the death of Joyce Summers in "The Body".
-->'''Anya:''' "Are they gonna cut the body open?"
-->'''Willow:''' "Oh my God! Would you just... stop talking? Just... shut your mouth. Please."
-->'''Anya:''' "What am I doing?"
-->'''Willow:''' "How can you act like that?"
-->'''Anya:''' "Am I supposed to be changing my clothes a lot? I mean, is that the helpful thing to do?"
-->'''Xander:''' "Guys..."
-->'''Willow:''' "The way you behave..."
-->'''Anya:''' "Nobody will tell me."
-->'''Willow:''' "Because it's not okay for you to be asking these things!"
-->'''Anya:''' "But I don't understand!" [begins to cry] "I don't understand how this all happens. How we go through this. I mean, I knew her, and then she's -- There's just a body! And I don't understand why she just can't get back in it and not be dead anymore! (begins crying ''heavily'') "It's stupid! It's mortal and stupid! "And-and Xander's crying and not talking, and -- and I was having fruit punch, and I thought, ''Well, Joyce will never have any more fruit punch ever, and she'll never have eggs, or yawn or brush her hair, not ever,''" (completely loses it) "and no one will explain to me '''''why'''''."
* ButForMeItWasTuesday: In "Hell's Bells," a demon shows up [[spoiler: disguised as Xander from the future]] to ruin Xander and Anya's wedding, because, as it turns out, he was once an adulterous human who Anya punished back during her days as a vengeance demon. Anya, who has most likely done such things to ''thousands'' of men, has no memory of doing so.
* CannotTellAJoke: If Giles' imagination is anything to go by.
* CharacterDeath: She is slain by a Bringer in the Season 7 finale.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: She was able to infiltrate Cordelia's social circle in her first appearance, [[NoSocialSkills then she swung in the opposite direction]] once she started appearing regularly.
%%* TheComicallySerious
%%* CuteGhostGirl: [[spoiler:She may be this as of Season 10 or Xander may just be [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane going insane]]]].[[spoiler: It turns out to be a ghost impersonating her (though the ghost genuinely believes itself to be Anya]].
* DeathIsDramatic: Tragically averted. Her death is extremely abrupt and met with little fanfare. Xander doesn't even get a chance to recover her body.
%%* {{Depower}}: Twice.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Completely freaked witnessing an EvilSorcerer become an EldritchAbomination and go on a rampage via performing a ritual similar to the one the Mayor planned on using.
* ForgottenPhlebotinum: Her power center necklace. She keeps it out of sight for whatever reason.
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: For most of her time on the show Anya was, in universe, the least popular member of the Scoobies (Spike was even less popular but for most his time in the show he wasn't seen as a friend at all, just an, at best, untrustworthy ally.) Willow particularly disliked Anya, but Dawn found her irritating and even Buffy and Giles could get tired of her quickly. Only Tara (who was friends with everyone and whom Anya had as a bridesmaid at her wedding) and Xander (who was dating her and the one who brought her into the gang to begin with) were consistently friendly.
* GoodCostumeSwitch: When Anya is introduced, she has brunette hair. She colors it blond after becoming human, [[EvilCostumeSwitch then goes back to brunette when she becomes a vengeance demon again.]] When she turns human for the second time, she goes back to blond.
* GoodHairEvilHair: When she's a vengeance demon, she's a brunette. When human, she's blonde.
* HappyDance: The Dance of Capitalist Superiority!
* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: From professional vengeance demon to human, then back to her old ways after Xander leaves her at the altar, and finally human again at the end of "Selfless."
* HeroicComedicSociopath: She couldn't act on any of it (until mid-Season 6), but she openly missed the days when she could solve her problems by eviscerating people. Spike can relate.
-->'''Anya:''' I'd kill for [R.J]!
-->'''Willow:''' You'd kill for a chocolate bar.
* HumanityEnsues: Becoming human makes her act more human, though it's eventually revealed she was human to begin with, a very long time ago.
* HumansAreBastards: It was easy for her to be a vengeance demon because humans do ''a lot'' of things that need avenging. Three years of fighting alongside the Scoobies allowed her to see the goodness in people and made it hard to go back to vengeance.
* ImmortalsFearDeath: After losing her powers and becoming human, she becomes terrified of growing old and dying. When Joyce dies, Anya has a breakdown over how stupid the concept of death is to her.
* InLoveWithTheMark: Originally appears with the intention of cursing Xander who cheated on Cordelia.
* JackOfAllStats: She's competent in both hand-to-hand combat ''and'' spellcasting, although she pales by comparison to Buffy and Spike in hand-to-hand combat, and to Willow, Tara, and Giles in magic.
* JackassGenie: She would take wishes that were ''already'' negative in nature and make them even worse, which is how she sparked the Russian Revolution.
%%* LiteralGenie
%%* LiteralMinded
* LoveableSexManiac: Whenever she'd get even slightly aroused, she would drag Xander away to have naughty time with him. [[TooMuchInformation She would often casually and innocently bring up how much sex she and Xander had]], much to the chagrin of the group at large.
%%* MagicalGirlfriend
* MeaningfulName:
** Anya's a little "Aud", isn't she?
** "Anyanka" is possibly derived from old Greek ἀνάγκη, "necessity". Just read the Other Wiki's entry and think of her RealityWarper powers.
* MoneyFetish: Another RunningGag. Why else would she have a Dance of Capitalist Superiority?
* NightmareFuelStationAttendant: As a result of being both knowledgeable about demons and very, very blunt.
%%* NoSocialSkills
* OptOut: Anya got the hell out of Dodge before Graduation Day. Contrast with the fifth and seventh season finales.
* PaintItBlack: When she became a demon again her color scheme went back to black.
* PatrioticFervor: "You know what else is un-American? ''[[FrenchJerk French people]]''". She's technically speaking [[ImmigrantPatriotism from Scandanavia]].
* PromotionToOpeningTitles: Starting Season 5.
* PunnyName: Aud. (Yes, she is.)
* RealityWarper: In "The Wish," she creates an entire AlternateUniverse where Buffy never came to Sunnydale.
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: 1,120 and she's still being carded.
%%* RedemptionEqualsDeath
* RevengeAgainstMen: Describes herself as a righteous sword for all WomanScorned (her behaviour as a demon belies this -- Anya essentially tricks women into inflicting DisproportionateRetribution on former loved ones, and took [[ForTheEvulz open pleasure]] in the CrapsackWorld she accidentally created in "The Wish").
* StartOfDarkness: Her back story of how she became a demon is shown in Season 7's "Selfless".
%%* SpockSpeak
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: For Cordelia. Greedy and high-maintenance? Check. Xander's love interest? Check. [[BrutalHonesty Brutally honest]] to a fault? Check.
* TooMuchInformation: A RunningGag is her eagerly telling the Scoobies details of her sex life with Xander that everyone (including Xander) would rather she kept private.
* TookALevelInBadass: After becoming a vengeance demon again near the end of Season 6, plus she manages to hold her own in a fight with Buffy and proves well-versed in swordsmanship during the final battle.
* {{Tsundere}}: "My feelings are changeable but intense."
* VitriolicBestBuds: Anya serving as a surrogate [[AnnoyingYoungerSibling annoying younger sister]] for Willow.
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Bunnies. Though she was shown to be fine with them while alive, suggesting something (possibly a wish gone horribly awry) occured while she was demon, or they're a subconscious reminder of her human past.
* WomanScorned: Describes herself as a "righteous sword" for them.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Oz]]
!!Daniel "Oz" Osbourne
[[quoteright:250:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/a81093bb0ca671d292b9ce173f54d68e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:250:''"Hey, I may be a cold-blooded jelly doughnut, but my timing is impeccable."'']]
->'''Played By:''' Creator/SethGreen

-->''"The wolf is inside me all the time, and I don't know where that line is anymore between me and it."''

A brilliant (yet generally unmotivated) student, and part-time rock guitarist. He is Willow's first and only boyfriend, and an active member of Buffy's inner circle, despite the fact that he has recently become a werewolf.
----
* AboveTheInfluence: The first time Willow tries to get him to kiss her, he thinks she is trying to get at Cordelia and Xander and instead he wants to be the gentleman and wait. The second time is after he caught Willow cheating on him, and she tries to seduce him. He lets her down and says she doesn't have to prove anything to him, and rejects her obvious sexual advances.
* BackForTheFinale: His final on-screen appearance is in Willow's dream in the Season 4 finale, "Restless".
%%* Badass
* BlackEyesOfEvil: One of the first things to change during a transformation.
* BreakoutCharacter: He was the one originally intended to be killed by Angelus in "Passion," but due to his popularity, he was spared, and Jenny Calendar was killed in his place.
* BrilliantButLazy: Oz is stated to be a genius by Willow, he's naturally gifted at academia and he has deep philosophical thoughts (that he never voices). He also lacks any and all kind of drive or ambition, putting little to no effort into life.
* CannotConveySarcasm: "That was my sarcastic voice."
-->'''Xander:''' You know, it sounds a lot like your regular voice.
-->'''Oz:''' I've been told that.
%%* CaptainObvious
%%* TheComicallySerious
%%* DeadpanSnarker
* {{Dismotivation}}: He and Willow were both tracked by a leading software company in "What's My Line" - the difference is, he wasn't all that excited about it. "I sort of test well, which is cool. Except it leads to jobs."
* DullSurprise: The minute he sees Buffy stake a vampire, he brushes it off and says it "explains a lot."
* EvolutionaryRetCon: Oz's wolf form went from an animatronic to a much sleeker full-body skunk-wolf suit.
* FakeBand: Oz is in a band called Dingoes Ate My Baby, after the famous case where Azaria Chamberlain was reportedly taken by a wild dog. [[FridgeBrilliance Dingoes are from Australia, or 'Oz.']]
%%* FantasticallyIndifferent
* GoalInLife: To [[MundaneMadeAwesome perfect the diminished ninth]]! "You could lose a finger."
* HulkingOut: When he learns of Willow and Tara's relationship, he transforms into the big werewolf.
%%* HappilyMarried: In the Season 8 comic.
%%* HiddenDepths
* InvoluntaryShapeshifting: Before going to Tibet he is forced to transform during the full moon and the two nights surrounding it.
* KaleidoscopeHair:
-->'''Willow:''' Your hair! ...is brown.\\
'''Oz:''' Oh, yeah. Sometimes.
* LeavingYouToFindMyself: After losing control with Veruca, Oz realizes that locking himself up every month isn't a permanent solution and it's just a waiting game until something goes wrong. He leaves Sunnydale to stay away from people and search for a cure.
* LookWhatICanDoNow: Oz gains mastery over his werewolf side by the time he returns, able to stand directly under a full moon without transforming.
* LoveAtFirstSight: Was clearly smitten with Willow from his first glimpse of her, even though they didn't actually meet until several episodes later. For a while him catching a glimpse of Willow and asking "Who is that girl?" in an awed tone was a RunningGag.
* TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody: The closer it is to sunset on a full moon night, the harder it is to resist his most primal urges.
* NervesOfSteel: ''Not'' a man easily shaken by anything.
* TheNoseKnows: Even when not in wolf mode, he has a heightened sense of smell.
* NotAMorningPerson: He sleeps until 3PM.
* NotSoStoic: Oz' trademark cool demeanor cracks when things get ''really'' serious. Willow being held hostage in "Choices" results in him quietly walking over to the vase he and Xander prepared for a ritual, and chucking it into the wall, smashing it to pieces.
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: His real name is only mentioned once in the series, in "The Initiative" -- which is incidentally the episode ''after'' he leaves.
* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent: He transforms by moonlight but can control it with training.
%%* PapaWolf
* PainfulTransformation: Although his later transformations transpire much more quietly. Nevertheless he agrees with [[EvilCounterpart Veruca]] when she describes the first few stages as blood boiling.
* PartialTransformation: [[ShapeshifterModeLock Mode locked]] into a partial werewolf form during "[[WhatDoTheyFearEpisode Fear, Itself]]".
* PutOnABus: He leaves the series and is gone until "[[TheBusCameBack New Moon Rising]]".
* TheQuietOne: He's quite philosophical in his own head. Out loud, not so much.
-->'''Xander:''' I see how he is around me. You know, that steely gaze... that pointed silence.\\
'''Buffy:''' [[SarcasmMode Cause he's usually such a chatterbox.]]
* RetiredBadass: A point of contention between him and Willow in Season 8 is the fact that he stopped fighting evil and started a family.
* RomanticRunnerUp: To Tara for Willow in "New Moon Rising". Willow decided she was more interested in Tara.
* SatelliteLoveInterest: His role on the show was entirely defined by being Willow's love interest. Proof that TropesAreNotBad in that he still managed to be a likeable and entertaining character.
%%* SpikyHair: Most of the time.
* SplitPersonalityTakeover: Comes very close to invoking this voluntarily after it appears his struggles against his werewolf self are futile.
* TheStoic: So, so much. His reaction upon finding out that he's a werewolf? "Huh." He has the same reaction with a bemused grin when he's meditating in Tibet ''and a submarine is teleported outside the temple.''
* TerseTalker: Take this exchange while Xander is quizzing him on what makes him "cool"-
-->'''Xander:''' Is it about the talking? You know, the-the way you tend to express yourself in short, non-committal phrases?\\
'''Oz:''' Could be.
* WalkingTheEarth: He leaves in Season 4 to do this, staying clear of humans and trying to find a cure.
* WolfMan: In Season 2, his werewolf form is portrayed as standing on two legs with a fully lupine head. In Seasons 3 and 4, it's portrayed as a quadruped with a muzzle-less face.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Riley]]
!!Riley Finn
[[quoteright:250:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bbb5d329d8c91dea1abb91c5277abb46.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:250:''"Turns out I suddenly find myself needing to know the plural of "apocalypse"."'']]
->'''Played By:''' Creator/MarcBlucas

-->''"Yeah, I'm well aware of how lucky I am. Like, lottery lucky. Buffy's like nobody else in the world. When I'm with her, it's like -- it's like I'm split in two -- half of me is just on fire, goin' crazy if I'm not touching her. The other half is so still and peaceful, just perfectly content. Just knows, this is the one. But she doesn't love me."''

Buffy's first serious boyfriend after Angel. He is initially an operative in a military organization called "The Initiative" that uses science and military technology to hunt down HSTs or "hostile sub-terrestrials" (demons). Riley is Angel's opposite, an Iowa-born-and-raised man whose strength lies in his military secret identity. Buffy's superior physical strength causes him insecurity, particularly after his medically enhanced powers were removed.
----
* AmazonChaser: DoubleSubverted. He likes Buffy's strength and skill, but after a while the fact that she's stronger than him chips away at his self confidence. Then he marries a BadassNormal action girl instead of one with SuperStrength.
* BadassNormal: Professional soldier who can keep up with slayers and vampires.
* BattleCouple: Riley is eager to form one with Buffy, but she finds his lack of superpowers cramps her style. When Riley returns for one episode ("[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E15AsYouWere As You Were]]") in Season 6, he's married a BadassNormal ActionGirl, forming a new Battle Couple.
* ConflictingLoyalty: A key factor in his Season 4 arc is him being torn between the Initiative and the Scooby Gang, especially after Professor Walsh, his ParentialSubstitute, tries to have Buffy killed. When the Initiative captures Oz, a werewolf, and conducted inhumane experiments on him even after he reverted to human form, that's the straw that broke the camel's back; he promptly turns his back on them in favor of the Scoobies and helps Buffy and co. break Oz out.
* DownOnTheFarm: Lampshaded by Riley Finn when he describes to Buffy the farm he grew up on, and admits he's making it sound like a [[AmericanGothicCouple Grant Wood painting]]. Later when Buffy finds out Riley is a secret agent, she naturally assumes this is all a front. Riley says that no, he really did grow up on a small farm in Iowa.
* TheEasyWayOrTheHardWay: "We can do this the hard way, or the fatal way."
* FantasticDrug: Became addicted to having his blood sucked by vampire prostitutes. No, that is not an UnusualEuphemism.
* FantasticRacism: At first he blasts the Scoobies and Willy the Snitch for harboring Spike and serving demons at his bar respectively, and later made negative comments on Willow's relationship with Oz, a werewolf. While he mostly grows out of it, some of it still remains; in "Buffy vs. Dracula," he makes it clear that unlike Buffy, he has no qualms against dusting a helpless Spike, and in the Season 8 comics, Angel outright describes him as "very humans first."
** In the Season 11 comics, he is made the military contact of the new Magic Council, and gets blasted for referring to himself as a representative of "normal" people, with one councilman outright calling him a bigot for implying nonhumans aren't "normal."
* FarmBoy: From Iowa, [[FlyoverCountry no less]]. "growing up on a farm" is his real backstory, not cover story.
* FeelNoPain: An eventual side-effect of Professor Walsh's experiments, though the strain it put on his body led to a HollywoodHeartAttack.
* ForScience: As a psychology major, his more ''curious interests'' occasionally pop up, like [[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E3TheReplacement when Xander was accidentally doubled.]]
-->'''Riley:''' Psychologically, this is fascinating! Doesn't it make everyone wanna [[StrappedToAnOperatingTable lock them in separate rooms and do experiments on them?]]
-->'''Giles:''' ({{Beat}})
-->'''Riley:''' ...Just me, then.
* TheGenericGuy: Compared to Buffy's other bad-boy love interests (Angel, Spike, and Parker), at the core Riley's just a normal, squeaky-clean, church-going guy from the midwestern US.
* GoodPeopleHaveGoodSex: Accidentally sleeping with Faith (in Buffy guise). His tenderness is so alien to the typically down-and-dirty Faith that she [[FreakOut freaks out]].
* HappilyMarried: He returns in Season 6 with a wife. Their happiness together is a 180 contrast to the self-destructive Spuffy going on at the time.
* LoveInterest: For Buffy, for Season 4 and part of 5.
* MommasBoy: Raised by his mother and has no trouble accepting Maggie Walsh's authority. That he regards her as a ParentalSubstitute is lampshaded by Adam, and he takes both her death and the revelation that she was secretly experimenting on him hard.
* MrFanservice: he has at least as many [[ShirtlessScene Shirtless Scenes]] as Angel.
* NiceGuy: In Season 6 when he returns to find Buffy working in a dead-end job and sleeping with Spike, Riley refuses to condemn her for it, instead giving Buffy the encouragement to start pulling her life back together.
* OneHeadTaller: Marc Blucas' height made scenes where he had to kiss the diminutive Sarah Michelle Gellar a bit awkward.
* RestrainingBolt: In "Primeval," it's revealed that Professor Walsh implanted him with a microchip that ties directly into his central nervous system through his thoracic nerve in order to control his motor functions, which Adam activates in order to pacify while his plans reach their fruition. During the fight, Riley literally cuts it out of his body in order to save Buffy.
* RomanticRunnerUp: He has a successful relationship with Buffy for some time, but it's made plain that she doesn't love him the way she loved Angel.
* RuggedScar: After [[TheBusCameBack coming back in Season 6]], he is shown to be much more proficient and gained a really cool scar over an eye.
* ScarsAreForever: When he comes back in Season 6, he has your standard Awesome [=McCool=] scar across his left eye. He also has one from when he cut out Adam's mind control chip, and probably has [[CoveredWithScars another]] from when Adam stabbed him.
* SuperSoldier: On the mild side of "super", but he and the other Initiative troops are chemically augmented.
* TookALevelInJerkass: In Season 5, where his attempts to become DarkerAndEdgier because [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys it's what Buffy likes]] ultimately lead to their breakup. He gets better in his Season 6 guest appearance.
* VanHelsingHateCrimes: He makes negative comments about Oz being a werewolf, leading to Buffy angrily [[WhatTheHellHero calling him a bigot]]. However, when the Initiative capture and torture a human Oz despite his objections, he snaps out of it.
* WhamLine: "But she doesn't love me."
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tara]]
!!Tara Maclay
[[quoteright:250:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/f01c4b96823a87a4e3856f9a019a53ac.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:250:''"Um, that-that was funny if you, um, studied Taglarin mythic rites…and are a complete dork."'']]
->'''Played By:''' Creator/AmberBenson

-->''"Nobody messes with my girl."''

A fellow member of a Wicca group during Willow's first year of college. Their close friendship evolves into an ongoing romantic relationship. Tara uses her magical skills to assist the Scooby Gang in their fight against evil, and she struggles with how to deal with Willow's growing addiction to magic.
----
* AbusiveParents: More like Abusive ''Family''. As part of her family's misogynistic tyranny of the women of the clan, they told her she was half-demon her entire life and that if she ever left them for too long, she'd turn into a monster. Her father doesn't even need to raise her voice to terrify Tara, her cousin is a vicious bitch and her brother explicitly threatens to beat her up if she doesn't come with them.
* ActionGirl: While she's not as tough as Buffy, Willow, or Anya, she's still able to hold her own in combat when she needs to. She's only weak in comparison to her much stronger and knowledgable friends.
* {{Adorkable}}: She's just as geeky as the other Scoobies and as cute as Miss Kitty Fantastico.
* AllWitchesHaveCats: Miss Kitty Fantastico! Though Tara was more interested in having a CuteKitten than a witch's familiar.
* BadLiar: In "Intervention," Spike makes a Buffybot to have sex with, and Tara tells Dawn that he made it to play checkers with ("It sounded convincing when I thought it"). Dawn, of course, doesn't buy it for a second.
%%* BloodSplatteredInnocents: It's her own blood.
* CharacterDeath: In one of the most iconic and devastating moments in the entire series, Tara is killed by a stray bullet intended for Buffy, fired by BigBad Warren Mears.
* ClingyJealousGirl: A mild case: she gets hurt and upset if Willow so much as looks at another girl, such as when April is noticed to be attractive or examining the Buffybot and Tara feels threatened that there is some attraction there.
* ClosetKey: Willow didn't know she was into girls until she met Tara.
* ClothingReflectsPersonality: See RedOniBlueOni. Tara also wears brighter and more attractive clothes in later seasons as she gains in confidence.
* TheConfidant: The only Scoobie that Buffy risks confessing to about her SecretRelationship with Spike. Tara is so sympathetic that a self-loathing Buffy breaks down in tears, begging Tara not to forgive her.
* CureYourGays: Parodied in "Once More, With Feeling."
-->"Oh my God, I'm cured! I want the boys!" (pretends to run off, only to collapse giggling into Willow's arms)
* TheConscience: Tara tends to put others first, and tries to end Willow's abuse of magic. She ends their relationship when she won't listen, but still hangs around to give Dawn some much-needed mothering.
* FakeGuestStar: Despite appearing in almost fifty episodes, she's still billed a guest star. Eventually she gets PromotedToOpeningTitles, but that's just a cruel trick by Joss, the ginger dominatrix of fandom.
** In fact, this was more-or-less confirmed by Whedon to be an intentionally evil check on his bucket list (given that he'd wanted to do this with Eric Balfour as Jesse, who was killed in the Pilot); he'd ''always'' wanted to kill a character in the first episode they received star billing, and he knew that whomever was dating Willow was destined to die, hence Benson not receiving star billing despite being a regular in all but name.
* FamousLastWords: [[TearJerker "Your shirt..."]]
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Her love song to Willow in "Once More, With Feeling" is extremely touching, and also extremely sexy if you listen closely to what she's singing: "Willow, you make me ''com''plete." Whedon said after the fact that it was the dirtiest thing he'd ever written.
-->''Joss:'' Yeah... this is porn.
* HotWitch: Lampshaded in "Once More With Feeling"; having gained in confidence thanks to her relationship with Willow, she's dressing a lot more attractively.
* IncorruptiblePurePureness: She always has the best intentions and is Willow's anchor for using magic responsibly.
* InstantDeathBullet: [[spoiler: After being shot by Warren, she manages to get two words out and subsequently dies.]]
* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler: Since her death was not a supernatural one, Willow cannot bring her back as she did Buffy at the beginning of the season. She's permanently dead.]]
* KillTheCutie: [[spoiler: Warren shows up with the intention to kill Buffy, only for a stray bullet to accidentally hit Tara as well, and she dies almost instantly.]]
* MagicMisfire: While usually the poster-girl for ethical and responsible witchcraft, she has one of these in "Family." Falsely believing that she's [[HalfHumanHybrid part-demon]], she casts a spell to [[PerceptionFilter hide it from the other Scoobies]], but it ends up making ''all'' demons invisible to them. Mortal danger ensues when around the same time, Glory forcibly recruits a horde of demons to kill Buffy, and Tara barely manages to show up in time to realize the spell has gone wrong and undo it.
* MindRape: What Glory did in "Tough Love," and what Willow did in "All The Way." It's referred to as "mind sucking".
* NiceGirl: Tara is easily one of the nicest members of the Scooby Gang; she's sweet, thoughtful, naturally kind, non-judgmental, and responsible.
* NWordPrivileges: In this cut scene from "Dead Things".
-->''"Sweetie, I'm a fag. I've been there."''
* OnlySaneWoman: Compared to most of the other Scoobies, she has the fewest issues to deal with personally: this makes her a naturally maternal and wise figure in their group, especially after Joyce passes away and Giles leaves town. She helps with Willow's magic addiction, Buffy's pain after her resurrection, and Dawn's depression, all without getting overwhelmed.
* PromotionToOpeningTitles: For one episode, to trick the fans into thinking she's safe. Whedon is a cruel mistress.
* RedOniBlueOni: When Willow and Tara first meet in Season 4, Tara wears blue and Willow wears red -- Tara is shy, cautious yet with longer experience in magic use, while Willow is more powerful, impulsive and (by that stage) outgoing in personality.
* SatelliteCharacter: At least initially, she doesn't get much in the way of a storyline outside of being Willow's girlfriend. Later on, she ends up having her own A-plots and generally much more significance to the point of being an integral and independent member of the group, such as in "Family," "Tough Love," "All The Way," and tragically, [[WhamEpisode "Seeing Red."]]
* ShrinkingViolet: Early on, when she's nervous and introverted. When she begins a relationship with Willow and subsequently gains her friends (and overcomes her family issues) she becomes much more confident.
* SpeechImpediment: Clearly an artifact of her abusive childhood, as it gets worse when her family comes to town, but [[StutterStop almost disappears]] once she gains more confidence in herself.
* SurprisinglySuddenDeath: Her death comes out of absolutely nowhere and was over very quickly.
* TeamMom: Evolves into this during Seasons 5 and 6, thanks to her maturity and due to Joyce's death.
* TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth: Easily the most straight-forward and nicest person in the cast, with no darker impulses. She swiftly became the moral center of the Scoobies, and then she died.
* TookALevelInBadass: Progressively so throughout Seasons 5 and 6.
* WhamLine: If you thought Willow and Tara were "just friends"...
-->'''Tara:''' I am, you know.
-->'''Willow:''' What?
-->'''Tara:''' Yours.
* WhiteSheep: Tara is the only good egg in the entire rotten Maclay clan, and they still presume to take the moral high ground.
* WiseBeyondHerYears: Despite being the most innocent of the Scoobies, Tara takes the revelation of Joyce's death much more like an adult than any other member of the gang. We later learn it's because her own mother died when she was 17, so she's been through this before.
[[/folder]]
----

''Giles''': Yes, you do. ''Move the hell on.''

* SurpassedTheTeacher: One of his main concerns from Season 4 onwards; not that he resents Buffy for it, he just feels superfluous.

* WildCard: Spike has a natural ability to upset the expected order of things, especially with Buffy and Angel/us.

* NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist: During the Season 9 comics, she becomes obsessed with finding a way to restore magic to Earth, convinced that the world is dying without magic and needs it to survive. Over the course of the ''Willow: Wonderland'' miniseries, Willow eventually realizes and confesses that she actually just wanted magic back so she could feel powerful again.
-->'''Willow''': ...Maybe just a couple of sads. My friends need me. At least, I keep telling myself they need me. The truth is... when I think about now, they seemed to be doing fine. I'm the one who was falling apart. Without magic, I'm back to being part hacker, part hostage, while my superpeeps kick evil's butt. I was so convinced the world needed magic. That life on Earth is fundamentally missing something. But maybe... maybe it was just me.

* TheHeart: His position in the Scooby Gang as 'The Heart' was a key component of a spell - the others were 'The Mind', 'The Spirit', and 'The Hands'. It's made clear more than once that Xander's strength doesn't lie in battle or conjuring spells, but in his interpersonal skills which hold the group together and keep them sane despite all the insanity swirling around them. [[spoiler:He brought Willow back from the brink by telling her he loved her.]]

* AntiHero: As he puts it, Buffy is a "real hero" who always puts helping others above anything else. That's also what allows Giles to assume this role, as the group ''needs'' someone more ruthless and vicious when difficult choices have to be made - Giles is the man who carries that burden so Buffy and the others don't have to.

* SmartPeopleSpeakTheQueensEnglish: One of the smartest characters, held up as the brainbox of the Scoobies (along with Willow, though her expertise leans more towards the technical), and speaker of flawless Queen's English - unless he gets reverted back to his youthful Ripper persona.

* AmazonChaser: Drusilla, Slayers in general and Buffy in particular - it's not a stretch to say he's only interested in women who can ([[CombatSadomasochist and do]]) kick his ass. Outright stated in the ''After the Fall'' comics.

* MyFriendsAndZoidberg: Buffy, at one point, says, "My friends... My family... Andrew..." Even by Season 10 he's still the most separate of the Scoobies, while all the others all live in the same apartment building--to the point where the Big Bad doesn't know who he is.

* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: His real name is only mentioned once in the series, in "The Initiative"--which is incidentally the episode ''after'' he leaves.

-->''"Yeah, I'm well aware of how lucky I am. Like, lottery lucky. Buffy's like nobody else in the world. When I'm with her, it's like - it's like I'm split in two - half of me is just on fire, goin' crazy if I'm not touching her. The other half is so still and peaceful, just perfectly content. Just knows, this is the one. But she doesn't love me."''

* RuggedScar: After [[TheBusCameBack coming back in season 6]], he is shown to be much more proficient and gained a really cool scar over an eye.

* NiceGirl: Tara is easily one of the nicest members of the Scooby Gang; she's sweet, thoughtful, naturally kind, non-judgmental and responsible.

* HeroWithBadPublicity: As of Season 8, many people believe them to be a speciesist group preying on vampires. Only gets worse in season 9 due to [[BigBad Simone's]] antics, but they finally shake it off in season 10.

* ABirthdayNotABreak: ''Every single time'' her birthday is celebrated on-screen, it's followed by a big-time supernatural incident or crisis; Spike even lampshades it in the season six episode "Older and Far Away," telling Buffy that since bad things always seem to happen whenever she celebrates her birthday, she should just stop doing so. Buffy apparently takes this to heart, since this is the last time they ever do so.

* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: She's the most combat-capable of the Scoobies, and their de facto leader. When she left at the end of season 2, the Scoobies picked up the slack without her, and got [[CurbStompBattle curb-stomped]] by common vampires. It got to the point that, after her death in season 5, the Scoobies had to reactivate and reprogram the Buffybot to make ''any'' dent in Sunnydale's demon population.

* BadassAngster: Often angst about her destiny of vampire slayer but especially in season 7 which was outright depression.

* BadLiar: Buffy exhibits this trait on a few occasions. She seems to subliminally ''want'' to be caught out in her Slayer duties, but the adults around her are too wrapped up in denial. In ''Buffy'' season 4/''Angel'' season 1, when she chases Faith to L.A. and is arguing with Angel after Faith turns herself in, Buffy insists to Angel that she came because he was in danger (Faith ''was'' previously trying to kill him under Wolfram & Hart's employ), but Angel doesn't buy it for a second and accuses her of only coming for vengeance; Buffy doesn't even try to deny that.
* BareHandedBladeBlock: Pulls it off against Angelus at the end of season 2.

* BiTheWay / AmbiguouslyBi: In the season 8 comic, she engages in a brief relationship with Satsu, one of the new slayers. She explicitly calls their first night together the best night of her life. However, Joss Whedon refers to this as her [[NoBisexuals "being young and experimenting"]], so her canon orientation is unclear.

* DeathSeeker: Implied, but ultimately subverted; after being resurrected in season 6, Buffy suffered severe depression and stated at least once that she was happier when dead. It's to the extent that in the season 6 finale, Dawn is genuinely surprised that Buffy actually ''didn't'' want Willow to destroy the world.
* DefectorFromDecadence: She never really cares about what the Watchers' Council has to say about how she does things. During season 3, she gets particularly disgusted when their Cruciamentum test results in the AxCrazy vampire they captured to test her breaking loose and kidnapping her mom, and when they refuse to help her save Angel after he is poisoned [[VanHelsingHateCrimes simply for being a vampire]], that was the straw that broke the camel's back: she cuts all ties with them for over a year.

* DoesNotKnowHerOwnStrength: At times. For example, during the season one episode "Witch", she accidentally throws one of her classmates across the gym during cheerleading practice, and in Season Five's "Into the Woods", accidentally crushes the doctor who operated on her mother while hugging him in relief.

* ExtremeDoormat: At times, when it comes to her friends. Most notably in season 6 when the Scoobies bring her back and she finds out that Willow and Tara had been living in her house and off her money the entire time she'd been dead, and hadn't even had the decency to pay her bills, thus landing her in a deep financial hole at the timeo of her ressurection. And then they ''still'' don't bother to pay rent even after all that, even though they're still living in Buffy's house.
* FailedASpotCheck: Throughout the early part of season 6, she doesn't notice all of the obvious signs that Willow has developed an addiction to magic, even after Xander and Anya point it out to her and after Tara breaks up with her because of it; it isn't until Willow's addiction leads to her getting Dawn in a near-fatal car accident that Buffy finally notices.

* {{Forgiveness}}: Takes Giles' "Forgiveness is an act of compassion" speech in season 2 to heart, full stop, and becomes one of the most forgiving characters on the show. Forgives Angel for the deeds of Angelus; forgives Giles for poisoning her and nearly getting her and her mother killed as apart of the Council's twisted test in season 3; forgives Spike for trying to [[MostWritersAreMale rape her]], forgives Faith again and again for all of her numerous betrayals, etc.

* GallowsHumor: Buffy has always had a morbid sense of humor; in Season Six after she's brought back from the dead it tends to get a DudeNotFunny reaction from the Scoobies.
* GirlyBruiser: Cheerleading (in one episode), dancing, and boychasing whenever she's not busy slaying vampires. In the season one finale, she killed The Master while wearing a prom dress. Her overt girliness wanes considerably after the first season, and even during then some aspects (like the cheerleading) drop away very quickly.

* HeroicBSOD: Several times. The most prominent examples being after the TraumaCongaLine she is put through in season 2, which spilled over into season 3; and arguably all of season 6--or at the very least, the first couple of days after she was brought back to life against her will and forced to dig herself out of her own grave, [[WhatAnIdiot due to her friend's negligence.]]

* HeroicSelfDeprecation: The narrative doesn't really like to highlight this, but Buffy does have the tendancy to let her friends and family belittle all the trauma her calling puts her through. See: Dead Man's Party, where she just stands there and lets everyone gang up on her for running away after [[TraumaCongaLine she'd been forced to kill Angel, was kicked out of her home, and was framed for murder]], and the pre-OMWF episodes of season 6, where she didn't tell her friends they'd selfishly pulled her out of heaven, because she didn't want them to feel bad.
* HeroismWontPayTheBills: In addition to having a full time job as the Slayer, Buffy has to take several low-paying jobs throughout seasons 6 and 7 to support herself and Dawn.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Willow, even after the latter's coming out. In season 6's "Gone," the case-worker that visits the Summers home even briefly mistakes them for a couple.

** Often comes across as such when it comes to dealing with [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters evil humans]]. She lets a werewolf hunter leave even though judging by the collection of teeth he's killed dozens of people to get werewolf pelts. She refuses to kill her friend Ford, who betrayed her, until after he becomes a vampire. And in the sixth season, despite the fact that Warren killed her friend Tara in cold blood and nearly killed her as well, she insists that she can't kill him because he's human and being the Slayer doesn't give her a license to kill. Perhaps the most extreme case of this is in season 5, where she adamantly refuses to kill Dawn even to save the world.
** She also has this in regards to her [[DoesntLikeGuns aversion to guns]]. In the season 8 comics, Buffy refused to use a Chinese assault rifle Giles gave her, even in the midst of a war with human soldiers.

* HurtingHero: Frequently, though she powers through it and tries not to let her family and friends see. Especially in season 6.

** During season 6, she attempts to talk Dark Willow down by getting her to focus on the positives in life, but Willow promptly shoots her down with a BreakingSpeech, pointing out all of Buffy's self-destructive habits during the season and reminding her that Buffy is ''not'' happy to be alive again.

* IDidWhatIHadToDo: Her attitude towards [[TheMagicGoesAway causing the end of magic]] during season 9, hence why she repeatedly dismisses Willow's concerns. She only accepts the true magnitude of it when she discovers that [[spoiler: Dawn is dying without magic]].

* MakeSureHesDead: In the season 2 premiere. After saving her friends from being ritually sacrificed to bring the Master BackFromTheDead, Buffy crushes the Master's skeleton to dust with a sledgehammer to ensure he'll never come back.

** Seeing her on her first day at Sunnydale High caused Xander to fall head over heels, literally, as he crashes into a railing. Buffy, however, is completely clueless as to his feelings until he asks her to the dance in the season finale. Then in ''Season Eight'', when Buffy's loneliness and need for stability compels her to go to Xander. Xander declines, having long since decided he and Buffy are BetterAsFriends.

* RageAgainstTheReflection: Her attempts to rediscover her passion in a DestructiveRomance with Spike during season 6 only make things worse. When Buffy (incorrectly) thinks she has murdered an innocent woman, she savagely beats an unresisting Spike, describing him in terms that clearly mirror her own fears over what she has become.

* ResurrectionSickness: Upon her resurrection in season 6, Buffy is initially disoriented and out of it for a while, and is depressed and self-destructive until the sixth season finale. Of course, it's largely because she was ripped out of Heaven and had to [[RiseFromYourGrave claw her way out of her own grave]].

* SpeakIllOfTheDead: In season 7, when Chloe is DrivenToSuicide by the First, Buffy explicitly calls her a weak moron for quitting when things got tough.

* TookALevelInBadass: In season 1, she was barely capable of taking on more than two vampires at a time. By season 5, she's holding her own against entire ''groups'' of vamps.

* UltimateJobSecurity: It's a RunningGag in season 7 that she's a terrible guidance counselor and was only hired because Principal Wood knew she was the Slayer and about the Hellmouth; whenever she mentions her "skills" at the job, the person she's talking to laughs or otherwise looks amused, and whenever she's talking to a student, she often gets distracted and doesn't listen to what the student is saying. The only reason she ultimately gets fired from the job is so she can devote all of her attention to the war with the First.
* UnderestimatingBadassery: In regards to Warren in season 6; she explicitly dismisses him as nothing but a "pain in her ass" and doesn't take him seriously... until he accidentally kills his ex-girlfriend Katrina and uses time-warping demons to dupe Buffy into thinking she did it; only a last-minute BatDeduction after hearing Katrina's body being identified at the police station stopped Buffy from taking the fall for Warren's mistake. From that moment on, Buffy realizes how dangerous Warren really is and makes it a point to bring him to justice.

** With Spike. After their relationship fell apart in season 6, they spent most of season 7 walking on eggshells despite still obviously having feelings. Then circumstances were such they had to go their separate ways and didn't reunite until season 9...at which point they still failed to resolve anything. Finally resolved in season 10, where they get back together.

* ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend: Never ever ever ''ever'' harm her boyfriends. Not even Giles is safe from her wrath, as he finds out when he tries to kill Spike in season 7.

* WeaknessTurnsHerOn: She quite enjoys [[FlorenceNightingaleEffect nursing Angel back to health]], and says that Riley looked "even cuter when all weak and kitteny". In the Season 8 Comics we discover one of Buffy's sexual fantasies involves Angel and Spike chained to her, with Buffy dressed in a NaughtyNurseOutfit.

* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: Usually avoids killing humans, but will readily take out evil demons or just demons in general. Case in point: when Willow turns evil and kills Warren in season 6, Buffy tries her very best to help her and worries for her sake more than for the people she's trying to kill. When Anya grants a wish that kills several frat boys in season 7, Buffy immediately decides that MurderIsTheBestSolution and Anya can't be reasoned with like Willow simply because Willow is human and Anya isn't; never mind the fact that Dark Willow was trying to destroy the planet ''[[PutThemAllOutOfMyMisery out of spite]]'', whereas Anya was clearly horrified and remorseful over what she had done.
* WhatTheHellHero: EVERYONE freaks out on her (Xander, Willow, and Joyce in particular) when she comes back from running away at the end of Season 2, to the point where she wants to run away again. Willow and a group of zombies crashing her house keeps her from doing so, [[FireForgedFriends much to everyone's relief]]. They have the same reaction in Season 3 on discovering that Angel (last seen as Angelus) has returned and Buffy has been keeping it secret. Also, in season 7, Buffy is kicked out of her house for her DrillSergeantNasty attitude and [[TheNeidermeyer crappy leadership skills and decisions]].

* CannotSpitItOut: Behaves like this toward Xander in Season One just like how he does with Buffy.

* CradleOfLoneliness: Does this with Tara's clothes when Tara breaks up with her in season 6.

* FallenHero: Magic high leads to Dark!Willow. There was also an AlternateUniverse book trilogy ("''Wicked Willow''") that explored what would have happened if she had stayed that way. The canonical Season 8 comic books state she is still this; specifically the "Time of Your Life" arc. In the season nine comics we learn that while she is holding it together around Buffy, Willow is hell bent on bringing magic back, believing the world is going to end and she has to save it.

* FromNobodyToNightmare: See ''Beware the Nice Ones''. Jonathan, having known her almost as long as Buffy and Xander, can hardly believe she's the same person by the end of season six.
* FunctionalAddict: In season 6, she [[AddictiveMagic becomes addicted to magic]], and during the second-to-last episode, after killing Warren and going after his cohorts in prison, Buffy explicitly mentions this:

* LoveMakesYouEvil: Her season 6 addiction to magic planted the seeds, but it was [[spoiler: Warren murdering Tara]] that pushed her over the edge into Dark Willow. She's later brought back to normal thanks to ThePowerOfFriendship.

* MisplacedRetribution: In season 6. After exacting her revenge on Warren, Willow promptly decided to try to kill his accomplices Jonathan and Andrew, who were in prison at the time and had absolutely nothing to do with it. While the Scoobies (sans Buffy) were so disgusted and furious with Warren that they rallied behind Willow en masse with her intent to kill, they all agree that Jonathan and Andrew don't deserve Willow's wrath.

** After going Dark Willow in the final few episodes of season 6, she is adamant that Warren needs to die for shooting Tara despite Buffy repeatedly insisting that they don't kill humans and there are other options. On top of it all, Xander and Dawn are so disgusted and furious with Warren that they declare him to be [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters just as bad as any vampire or demon Buffy's slain]] and fully support Willow's intent to kill... at least until the minute she actually goes through with it.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Willow's decision to resurrect Buffy in season 6 disrupted the magic protecting the Slayer line, which allowed the First Evil to embark on its infamous Slayer/Potential Slayer genocide in season 7.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Along with the MotiveRant above, she gives out one to Faith in season 3, especially since Faith was more prepared for an "it's not too late to turn back" speech:

* TheReliableOne: Buffy explicitly calls her this at one point. Which is part of why her behavior in season 6 was so shocking.

* RevengeBeforeReason: In season 5, she goes after Glory in a rage after Glory {{Mind Rape}}s Tara, ignoring Buffy's warnings and reminders that Glory is a PhysicalGod and she stands no chance against her. While Willow ''does'' manage to [[CurbstompCushion cause Glory pain and weaken her somewhat]], she ultimately goes down and is only saved from certain death when Buffy shows up JustInTime.

** After Glory "[[MindRape brain-sucks]]" Tara in season 5, Willow is so pissed off that she attacks Glory in her own home, and manages to both cause Glory pain and weaken her somewhat before getting [[CurbStompBattle curb-stomped]]; if Buffy hadn't shown up when she did, Willow would've been toast.
** On a much bigger scale in season 6; when Warren [[VillainousBreakdown flips out]] and shoots Buffy and Tara (the latter accidentally), killing the latter, Willow, still recovering from her addiction to dark magic, suffers a relapse, personally hunts him down, and skins him alive, and ''all'' the Scoobies except Buffy herself back her up because they're so disgusted with Warren. However, Willow then proceeds to go after [[MisplacedRetribution Jonathan and Andrew]], who were in prison at the time and had nothing to do with it, which eventually spirals into a SuicidalCosmicTemperTantrum that Xander just barely manages to talk her down from.

* SoapboxSadie: Originally protested Thanksgiving because it was all about death. Also in the season 6 Halloween episode goes off on a tirade on a customer wearing a witch costume.

* SympathyForTheDevil: Her attitude towards the [[RestrainingBolt chipped Spike]] in season 4, to the extent that she refuses to let him stake himself in "Doomed." This is especially noticeable compared to Buffy and Xander, who not only have NoSympathy for Spike, but actively enjoy taunting him.

* TragicBromance: Her refusal to lose Buffy pushes her to take more risks with magic than ever before. The resurrection leaves her so high off success that she responds to Giles' concern with threats, setting most of her season six arc into motion. In season 8, she admits that she believes that had she not brought Buffy back, Tara wouldn't have died; nonetheless, in ''Angel & Faith'', she insists to Angel that despite everything that happened as a result, she has ''never'' regretted bringing Buffy back.

* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: In season 6, after Tara's death and her murder of Warren, Willow decides to destroy the world to end her own pain and everyone else's. She's thankfully stopped from that.

* BerserkButton: Don't harm or endanger his friends. Case in point: in the season 2 premiere, after Willow and Giles are captured by the Order of Aurelius after Buffy refuses to work with them and leaves, [[CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot Xander bitterly tells her that she could have prevented the kidnapping if she had just stayed]], and explicitly threatens to kill Buffy if the vamps hurt Willow.
** At the end of Season Eight he snaps on Angel for [[spoiler: killing Giles]] and pummels him.

** After being turned into a soldier during season two's HalloweenEpisode, he still retains his knowledge of military training, and uses it to help the gang on multiple occasions (such as when he sneaks into a military base to steal a rocket launcher).
** After being temporarily BrainwashedAndCrazy by Dracula in Season Five, he continued to refer to Dracula as "Master" several episodes later and in the Season 8 comics.

* EasyAmnesia: {{Exploited}}. After Xander is possessed by hyenas, he tells Buffy and Willow he has no memory of it, but when Giles confronts him, he confesses that he was lying so he wouldn't have to talk about it. In Season 2 he inadvertently reveals he was lying.

* HopelessSuitor: In the first season he tries and fails to get Buffy's attention in a romantic manner.

** In season 3, he's furious that Buffy knew that Angel had come BackFromTheDead and withheld the information from the others, when he himself had deliberately neglected to tell Buffy that Willow was planning to curse Angel with a soul again in the season 2 finale to ensure that Buffy ''would'' kill him.

* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: He eventually reconciles himself to Buffy seeing him as a friend. In Season Eight, Buffy briefly comes onto him. However, Xander recognizes that she's looking for a warm body, not love, and reaffirms that they are friends only.

* ItsAllMyFault: In the final episodes of season 6, he views Dark Willow's rampage as his fault, revealing that he saw the gun in Warren's hand before he even raised it and just froze up in fear and stood there while Warren shot Buffy and Tara.

* TheLancer: Often acts as Buffy's "voice of reason" when he feels she's not thinking straight. By Season 8 he's her official second-in-command.
** Also plays this to Spike in season 10, particularly the "Love Dares You" arc.

* LoveMakesYouDumb: Discussed in season 7 when he objects to Buffy planning to kill Anya, despite the fact that Anya brutally murdered several humans; Buffy herself believes that Xander's lingering feelings for Anya are clouding his judgement:

* MonsterRoommate: Had Spike forced on him in seasons 4 and 7, much to their mutual dislike. In season 10, however, they're splitting an apartment willingly.

** Ironically by season 10, despite formerly being one of it's biggest naysayers, he'd actually pro Spike and Buffy, to the point of calling Spike out for turning Buffy down for a date since it's obvious Spike is still in love with her.

* FakeGuestStar: Throughout Season Seven. But we'll act conciliatory and call him a Super-Duper Extra Special Guest Star.

* FourEyesZeroSoul: He slips into this trope now and again, mainly because of IDidWhatIHadToDo. It becomes prevalent in season 5 when he's prepare to sacrifice Dawn and suffocate Ben in cold blood to stop Glory's return.

* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: In the season 5 episode "Tough Love", Giles, Willow, and Anya capture one of Glory's minions and are about to interrogate him for information. Giles tells Willow and Anya to get some rope to tie him up, and the minute they turn around, we hear a SickeningCrunch and the minion painfully and frantically agrees to tell them everything. Giles' response to their questions?

* SurpassedTheTeacher: One of his main concerns from season four onwards; not that he resents Buffy for it, he just feels superfluous.
* TeenGenius: After [[spoiler:he's killed in season 8]], Angel and Faith [[spoiler: resurrect him]], but due to other circumstances, [[spoiler:he comes back with his adult memories intact, but in the body of a 12-year-old, thanks to his immortal aunts, who remember him as a 12 year old, doing the resurrecting. His behaviour is also influenced by being a hormonal teenager, much to his chagrin.]]

* {{Workaholic}}: Particularly evident in season four. Due to his not having a job at the time, and Buffy not really requiring a watcher in the same way as she once did, he struggles to fill his time. Whenever any opportunity to help the gang or investigate evil comes about, he leaps on it.

* ActionGirl: As of the final season; she leans more towards an ActionSurvivor in Season 5 and until the final episode of season 6.

* AwesomenessByAnalysis: In the season six finale, it's heavily implied that she picked up some fighting skills by watching Buffy slay.

* BreakTheCutie: Most of the Fifth Season is one long trauma-line for Dawn. She is targeted by a PhysicalGod for murder, her mother dies abruptly, and then her sister commits suicide in order to save her life. Its safe to say that it really was a bad year for Dawn. No wonder she starts acting out...

* TookALevelInBadass: During season 5 and most of season 6, she's taken Willow's place as the show's token DistressedDamsel. By the season 6 finale, she steps up a level by helping Buffy fight, and in season 7, she's an active Scooby.

** Subverted in the comics, where in season 10 [[spoiler: Buffy makes it clear to Spike that she chooses him over Angel and Willow tells Angel she thinks Spike is more capable than Angel of being in a relationship with Buffy due to his greater capacity for change.]] Finally on top of Angel in ''one'' area, and the one that would matter [[LoveMartyr most to Spike.]]

* BadBoss: In Season 2 Spike sacrifices a vampire mook on two separate occasions ("School Hard" and "Halloween") just to get an idea of how the Slayer fights. When he comes back for one episode in Season 3, his former henchvamps now work for the AffablyEvil Mayor and make it a point to tell Spike how their lot has improved since he left town.

* BasementDweller: Spends parts of season 4 and 7 hiding out in basements.
* BastardBoyfriend: In season 6, uses Buffy's obvious PTSD and depression in order to manipulate her into striking up a sexual relationship with him. Then later attempts to rape her after she calls it off.

* BiTheWay: [[ImpliedTrope Implied]] once in a off-hand comment; "Me and Angel have never been intimate... Well, except that one time--" [[ButNotTooBi Apart from this one-off gag, theres no other evidence to suggest he's sexually or romantically attracted to men]], and lots to suggest he's attracted to women.

* BondBreaker: In the season four finale. He didn't create the problems the Scooby Gang were facing, but made them likelier to anger and alienate each other. He calls it the [[YokoOhNo Yoko Factor]].

* DefiantToTheEnd: He refuses to reveal Dawn's identity as the Key under brutal torture from Glory in season 5... which wins him back some good favor with Buffy.

* DistinctionWithoutADifference: In ''Angel'' season 5, he [[ShootTheHostage stabs through Angel]] to kill a demon behind him. Angel accuses him of just wanting to stab him. Spike is offended -- he prefers bashing Angel with blunt objects.

* EvilVersusOblivion: At the end of ''Buffy'' season 2, he forms an EnemyMine with Buffy to stop Angelus' plan to awaken Acathla and [[DraggedOffToHell suck the whole world into Hell]]. He may be evil, but he actually enjoys human society and isn't about to let Angelus destroy everything.

* GameBreakingInjury: Midway through season 2, he's crushed by a collapsing pipe organ during a fight with Buffy and left wheelchair-bound for several episodes.

* GoOutWithASmile: In the final episode of season 7. Even as his flesh and muscle is being toasted off and the Hellmouth is crumbling around him, Spike still smirks and laughs as he crumbles to dust.

-->'''Xander:''' Spike's working for Adam?! After all we've done--nah, I can't even act surprised.

* HeroWithAnFInGood: In seasons 5 and 6, he frequently falls into this trope, often doing things not because it's right but because it's what Buffy would want.

** It starts back in season 4, when he's ''"forced"'' by his condition (he only could hurt monsters, but not humans) to fight alongside the good guys.

* HowTheMightyHaveFallen: When first introduced, he's well established as a HeroKiller and a ''very'' dangerous threat to Buffy and the Scoobies. Come season 3, he's a drunken wreck after Drusilla dumps him, and it's taken even further after being [[RestrainingBolt chipped]], where he becomes the series' ButtMonkey and tries to stake himself.

** Gets called on it multiple times in season 10. Xander calls him out on turning down Buffy's offer to try getting back together when it's obvious Spike still wants to be with her, and when he tries to later break up with Buffy out of fear he'll just utterly screw it up down the road, she lets him have it. Spike realizes that his own idolization of Buffy coupled with his low self-esteem and this trope are actually the real problems and relents.

** In season 5, when Dawn found out she was the Key and Spike was with her, Buffy's immediate response was to go straight to his crypt and begin pummeling him for helping her, but Spike quickly turns the tables on her, pointing out that Dawn would have snuck into the Magic Box anyway and he felt she would be safer with a former BigBad looking over her shoulder, finishing by [[CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot telling Buffy point-blank that if she had simply told Dawn the truth in the first place, none of this would be happening]]; Buffy later admits he's right.
* HeartbrokenBadass: In season 3, when Drusilla breaks up with him.

* TheLancer: To Buffy in season 7. He's her lieutenant in all but name, is frequently seen at her shoulder, and always lets her know when he disagrees [[UndyingLoyalty before supporting her anyway]].

* LivingLieDetector: Combined with BrutalHonesty. Mocks Buffy and Angel's attempts at being "JustFriends", points out that Willow is "hanging on by a thread" after breaking up with Oz, and accuses Buffy (and, by extension, all Slayers) of having a secret death wish in season five.

* MayflyDecemberRomance: With Buffy, the mortal human. Though the trope is less obvious than with Angel, due to Spike being a PopCulturedBadass. However when they get back together in season 10, Spike brings it up as a potential issue in the relationship.

* MonsterRoommate: Was this for Xander in season 4 and 7, to their mutual dislike. Season 10 has him sharing an apartment with Xander willingly as they've managed to become friends.

* NerdInEvilsHelmet: It's made very clear that he often over-emphasizes how "evil" he is in an attempt to save face when people start to notice his softer side (he chokes and acts outright offended when Dawn claims to feel safe with him in season 5). Add in his tendency to watch soap operas and well-buried love of poetry...

* NotSoDifferent: To Buffy -- they love to fight (and when forced to fight together, cooperate instinctively), refuse to be bound by tradition, and seem addicted to doomed unconventional relationships. Spike pushes this line when trying to court Buffy in Season 5 and 6; and while Buffy angrily denies the idea it's clear she also secretly believes him, fueling her decision to enter into a DestructiveRomance that highlights all the ways they're ''not'' alike.

* NotWorthKilling: In season 4's "Doomed," Xander, during his TheReasonYouSuckSpeech, remarks that, though he knows that he could easily kick Spike's ass as a result of his being [[RestrainingBolt chipped]], he's so pathetic right now that he's not worth the effort.
* ObfuscatingDisability: After healing from his GameBreakingInjury in season 2, he continues to pretend to be crippled to deflect suspicion while he plots against Angelus.

* PetTheDog: Even before he was [[RestrainingBolt chipped]], he honestly liked Buffy's mother Joyce, visiting her in season 3 to have a friendly chat.
* PoisonousCaptive: In season four, Spike was often this to the Scoobies.

* PromotionToOpeningTitles: From season 4 onwards.

** While held hostage by the Scoobies in season 4, his biggest concern is missing the next episode of ''Series/{{Passions}}''.

* ReformedButRejected: Even after his attempts at redemption, he is almost never really trusted by the Scoobies, who continually hound him with abuse and scorn. On the other hand, 120 years of him killing for fun. Plus, when he was originally forced to beg for their help, he spent a lot of time telling them how much he hated them and how he was going to kill them all, first chance he got. The abuse and scorn wasn't exactly one-sided. Even when he started trying to be what Buffy wanted, some of his attempts were... off, and the gang knew quite well that he was motivated by feelings for Buffy rather than a genuine desire for redemption. There's a difference. Even if he was planning not to repeat his past evil actions, he didn't actually feel remorse for them. Speaking pre-Season Seven.

* SayingTooMuch: After his Yoko Factor plan successfully splits up the Scoobies during season 4, Spike has a subsequent encounter with Buffy and mentions her falling out with her friends; as he wasn't actually there when the Scoobies had their big fight, Buffy puts two-and-two together and realizes that Spike set them up.

* StatingTheSimpleSolution: Happens quite a bit in season 2 with Angelus' return. While Angelus insists on [[BondVillainStupidity playing mind games]] with Buffy and the Scoobies, Spike insists that he should just kill Buffy before she gets really mad and kills them all. He's proven right: when Angelus kills Giles' LoveInterest Jenny Calendar, not only did they have to contend with a ''very'' pissed-off Slayer, but she was [[{{Pun}} hot]] on the heels of her Watcher, who [[KillItWithFire set their hideout on fire with a Molotov cocktail]] before beating Angelus senseless with a flaming baseball bat.

* TokenEvilTeammate: Was this to the Scoobies during season 4 and part of season 5; he only helped them out for money or for the sake of a good fight, and stated on multiple occasions that once he found a way to have his chip removed, he was going to kill them.

* VillainsOutShopping: In "A New Man", Giles and Spike run into each other while Spike is 'house hunting' - visiting crypts with a tape measure. Spike has also been seen walking home with groceries, playing 20 questions with his girlfriend, and hanging out in bars.

* WhatTheHellHero: In season 7, he gives such a speech to the Scoobies when he discovers that they ousted Buffy from the group.

** As of season 10, issue 11, it's no longer ambiguous.

* EvilFeelsGood: As season 6 goes on, he becomes enamored with the idea of getting away with crimes; by the time of "Seeing Red," he's gleefully cheering for Warren to kill Buffy.

* FatalFlaw: Andrew often goes off to do things without informing anyone else of his plans, leading to everyone else getting blindsided when things go wrong. In season 9 he [[spoiler: replaces Buffy with a robot decoy without telling anyone]] and in Season 10 he [[spoiler: goes behind the group's back to try and resurrect Jonathon and Tara.]] He learns his lesson mid-season 10 and [[spoiler: tells the team when the Sculptor tries to win him over instead of acting unilaterally.]]

* GadgeteerGenius: Shown off more in the comics. By season 10 he uses his inventions to keep up with the gang on patrol and brings over experimental weapons for battles.

* MustMakeAmends: He spends most of Season 7 trying to make up for his "Member of the Trio" stuff. Exploited by the Sculptor in season 10 to try to get him to [[spoiler: give over the scythe in exchange for the demon making a body for the AI copy of Jonathn's mind.]]
* MyFriendsAndZoidberg: Buffy, at one point, says, "My friends... My family... Andrew..." Even by season 10 he's still the most separate of the Scoobies, while all the others all live in the same apartment building--to the point where the Big Bad doesn't know who he is.

** Taken UpToEleven in season 10 where the BigBad is unable to remember who he is in the finale despite him having been around all season and invovled heavily in most arcs. Andrew even lampshades that he's been there the entire time.

* SixthRanger: Very prevelant in season 10, where he is the only member of the Scoobies to live apart from the rest and the BigBad doesn't even know his name during the final confrontation.

* HeroicComedicSociopath: She couldn't act on any of it (until mid-season six), but she openly missed the days when she could solve her problems by eviscerating people. Spike can relate.

* WolfMan: In Season 2, his werewolf form is portrayed as standing on two legs with a fully lupine head. In Season 3 and 4 it's portrayed as a quadruped with a muzzle-less face.

** In the Season 11comics, he is made the military contact of the new Magic Council, and gets blasted for referring to himself as a representative of "normal" people, with one councilman outright calling him a bigot for implying nonhumans aren't "normal."

%%* RealityWarper

* TraumaButton: In early Season 7, it's clear that Spike's AttemptedRape of her has left scars. Simply touching his hand by accident in "Beneath You" causes her to flash back to that moment, and in "Him," Spike unexpectedly touching her arm startles her.

%%* ScrewLearningIHavePhlebotinum

* UnwantedRevival: Zigzagged; at the end of ''Angel & Faith'', Giles is successfully resurrected by Angel in the body of a twelve-year-old boy. Considering his soul had been held captive by Eyghon, as well as his being trapped in Angel's body and forced to endure Angelus' crimes and Angel's sorrow, Giles admits he ''would'' be grateful for Angel bringing him back and saving him from all that... were it not for the fact that Angel killed him in the first place and focused on reviving him rather than dealing with Whistler's plan.

** On the dvd commentary for the Season 4 episode Primeval, episode writer David Fury admits that in the previous episode ('The Yoko Factor') Spike's oversight of giving Willow the disk before prodding the Scoobies toward implosion was an oversight on the part of the writers. It was their plan, and once they realized that it was flawed, they just made it an instance of this trope. Kick the Spike even exists on a meta level.

* HonorBeforeReason: Often comes across as such when it comes to dealing with [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters evil humans]]. She lets a werewolf hunter leave even though judging by the collection of teeth he's killed dozens of people to get werewolf pelts. She refuses to kill her friend Ford, who betrayed her, until after he becomes a vampire. And in the sixth season, despite the fact that Warren killed her friend Tara in cold blood and nearly killed her as well, she insists that she can't kill him because he's human and being the Slayer doesn't give her a license to kill. Perhaps the most extreme case of this is in season 5, where she adamantly refuses to kill Dawn even to save the world.

* ThouShaltNotKill: She acknowledges that [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters humans can be just as bad, if not even worse, than demons]], but ''flat-out refuses'' to take a human life. Of course, she makes exceptions from time to time, mainly when it suits her.

* StalkerWithACrush: How he acts initially after falling in love with Buffy.

* PapaWolf: Threatening Buffy isn't a wise move if you want to stay healthy.

** In "Pangs", the MonsterOfTheWeek is a Native American ghost who's killing white people the same way bounty hunters killed his people as revenge. [[SoapboxSadie Willow]] is reluctant to act because [[WhiteGuilt she feels really guilty about what the colonists did]], and everybody else is trying to convince her that they do have to fight him because he's killing innocent people. It's [[PoliticallyIncorrectHero Spike]] of all people that finally gets through to her. He points out that the Europeans invaded with better weapons, killed the natives and took their land, which the whole ''point'' of conquering new territories. Humans have been doing it for as long as they have been around ("It's what Caesar did, and he's not going around saying, "I came, I conquered, I felt really bad about it"). He then goes on to say that the Team is ''not'' going to be able to save anybody if they keep their PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad attitude up, and the ghost '''''does not care''''' if they feel bad for the greusome actions of their ancestors -- it's pissed off and wants them all dead. When Willow then suggests that they could talk to the ghost, [[ArmorPiercingQuestion he asks her what she could possibly say to make him feel better about white people exterminating his tribe]], destroying any and all argument against fighting the ghost. This is especially poigant because Giles made those exact same points earlier.

* NotSoHarmlessVillain: Near the end of Season 4. The Scoobies are firmly convinced that Spike, due to his RestrainingBolt, is no longer a threat... until he proves them wrong by manipulating the existing tensions within the group and turning them against one another.

** The former could perhaps be explained by the fact that most of his unlife had passed since he last saw Angel for any length of time, and when Angel left after being ensouled, he was just starting to make his own reputation as a terrifying master vampire. His initial joy at Angelus' return quickly palls when he realises that this relegates him to second fiddle.