Several recurring and one-shot characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its tie-in media are extremely popular among fans.
Series
- Spike was originally intended to have a brief arc, but James Marsters turned in such an amazing and sexy performance, that fans fell in love with him from the jump. Reportedly, this infuriated Joss Whedon, who was adamant that Spike was supposed to die, and at one point cornered Marsters in a hallway and screamed at him in frustration.
- Oz, who was spared from being killed in "Passion" for this very reason. Despite not having many lines and having the second-fewest appearances for a main character (second only to Riley), he is still one of the more popular characters.
- Anya. Intended as a one-shot villain, she quickly became a scene-stealer thanks to Emma Caulfield's comedic timing, and was added to the main cast of Season 5.
- Wesley Wyndam-Pryce first appeared as Faith's Watcher and was intended to be killed off shortly after. In the words of actor Alexis Denisof, Wesley was supposed to "come in, irritate Giles and Buffy for a couple shows, and then be gloriously terminated". However, the writers grew fond of him and kept him around. When Joss Whedon added Wesley to the main cast of Angel, he quickly became a fan favorite.
- Faith. Originally supposed to last five episodes, she became a fan favorite for being a complex Foil to Buffy and instead lasted right until the end. She would have even gotten her own show if Eliza Dushku hadn't declined in order to work on other projects.
- Jenny Calendar, a Cool Teacher with an interesting backstory and a fun dynamic with Giles. She was supposedly meant to die in Season 1, but was kept alive for another season because her character was so popular.
- Jonathan in the early seasons when he was the go-to victim at Sunnydale High for anything non-lethal. Later, he was a Monster of the Week in Season 4, a reluctant Big Bad for Season 6, and had a tragic and pivotal death in "Conversations With Dead People".
- Joyce Summers was supposed to be a seldom seen, remote figure but the fans, crew and cast fell in love with both actress (Kristine Sutherland) and character and she appeared in more episodes than several of the main roles.
- The Gentlemen only appeared in one episode, but their creepy designs and bone-chilling acting performances (including beloved future cult icon Doug Jones) made them some of the scariest and most memorable monsters in the show's history.
- Ethan Rayne has a massively disproportionate fandom and fanfic representation for a character who only appeared in four episodes, thanks to his importance to Giles's past and the Ho Yay between them. It also might have something to do with the fact that any time Ethan shows up, wacky chaos abounds.
- Harmony was one of Cordelia's dumb, snobby friends in the first season, was turned into a vampire for Season 4, and eventually became a regular on Angel.
- Spike's demon pal Clem was a Nice Guy who gloriously subverted Beauty Equals Goodness and quickly became endearing in the eyes of fans.
- Vampire Willow, an alternate universe Villain of the Week. Joss liked the character so much he wrote an entire episode ("Doppelgangland") about her.
- Whistler, an Evil Mentor of sorts to Angel who was popular enough that Joss Whedon once considered bringing him over to Angel, thanks to his cool personality and great taste in headgear.
- Vi and Amanda are easily the most well-liked of the Potentials. Vi for taking a level in badass during the final battle and for being played by Felicia Day; Amanda for being among the nicest and most competent of the bunch.
- The Mayor's henchman Mr. Trick was one of the most memorable vampires in the series for being charismatic and funny, yet also intimidating.
- Minor vampire Sandy is only onscreen for about five minutes across three episodes but is viewed with some interest by many for being sired by Vampire Willow and apparently being a Friendly Neighborhood Vampire in a franchise without too many of them.
- Watcher Lydia has her fans for being the nicest of the Watchers' Council leadership and writing a thesis on Spike (which has inspired fans to actually recreate and publish one of their own).
- Holden Webster (a vampirized former classmate of Buffy who psychoanalysis her in the middle of a surprisingly cordial fight) is well remembered and often discussed in spite of his brief screentime.
- While not everyone likes her final character arc, people at least agree that Amy Madison is an interesting character, going from a Victim of the Week to another magic user to spending years trapped in a rats body and coming back a bit unbalanced. She even has a page on the Other Wiki.
- Sunday, a one-shot villain who appeared in the first episode of season 4, was considered cool enough by the fanbase for many to wish she lasted more than one episode. Some fans take that wish even further and, considering how unpopular Adam and the Initiative turned out to be, wish that Sunday was built up as the Season 4 Big Bad instead of them. Adding to this is the rumor that Sunday was originally supposed to be a slayer-turned-vampire, which would have been an extremely interesting type of antagonist for Buffy to face at the time.
- Snyder was initially going to be just a random ill-fated principal and became one of the most hilariously entertaining characters in the whole show. Being played by Armin Shimerman helps.
- Sunnydale guidance counselor Mr. Platt only appears in a few minutes of a single episode, but he's pretty well-liked for being a warm, quirky Reasonable Authority Figure and many fans wish he'd been a recurring character instead of a disposable murder victim.
- Owen Thurman only appears in "Never Kill a Boy on the First Date", but he has a decent fanbase for being a poetry-loving closet Thrill Seeker who likes Buffy romantically both before and after learning about her job as the Slayer.
- Vampire Candy Gorch is only in a few scenes of a single episode, but she is decently well-liked for putting up a better fight against Buffy than her appearance and demeanor would suggest, and being defeated through an interesting use of an Improvised Weapon. Some fans go as far as to say that she's a better character than her husband (a returning villain) and wish she'd appeared more.
- From "The Pack":
- Herbert, the football helmet-wearing pig mascot, is adored in and out of universe.
- While Gang of Bullies member Heidi Barrie only attracts Love to Hate sentiments at best in the episode itself, she has a decent number of fans among the people who read the All There in the Manual yearbook, due to having an interesting array of hobbies and seeming to have These Hands Have Killed remorse for her actions.
- Charming Teen Genius and Reluctant Mad Scientist and protective brother Chris Epps from "Some Assembly Required
" is quite popular for being one of the first Anti Villains of the show. - Warren's girlfriend Katrina "Trina" Silber is only in about five minutes of two episodes but has plenty of fans due to her being a tough Teen Genius who won't put up with Warren's crap.
- Michelle Blake, one of Buffy and Cordelia's Homecoming Queen competitors in "Homecoming", only gets a single line and maybe a minute of screentime but is better remembered than many classmates with far more screentime due to being one of the joint winners and having some interesting quirks according to The Big Board Buffy makes and the Sunnydale High Yearbook.
- Riley Finn's wife Samantha only appears in one season 6 episode, some comics, and a novel, but has a good fanbase for being an Action Girl who has some adorable Nice Girl interactions with the core cast. ScreenRant even called her a character worthy of a hypothetical spinoff.
- Occasionally affable yet deeply unhinged and impressively dangerous zombie greaser delinquent Jack O'Toole and Xander's shallow gearhead short-term girlfriend Lysette only appear in "The Zeppo", but are decently well-remembered due to how well-known that episode is and they are generally felt to do a lot to improve it (especially Jack).
- Nancy from the Alternate Reality Episode "The Wish" is the only member of La Résistance who isn't anyone the cast knows in the main timeline and dies rather abruptly. However, she has some fans for the novelty of her unexplained role in the group (some theorize she is a Potential Slayer) and for having a couple of funny reactions to the relationship dynamics between the cast.
- Gage Petronzi, the Token Good Teammate of the swim team in "Go Fish," has an interesting personality and is played by a young Wentworth Miller, with many people enjoying his performance and wishing he had retained some sentience and importance after his Face–Monster Turn.
The Original Movie
- Amilyn is more popular than his fellow vampires in the film, mostly for his memorable death scene and for being played by Paul Reubens.
- Nicki may be the least prominent of Buffy's friends, but has her fans for being somewhat funnier and (initially) more loyal than Buffy's other friends, having a colorful fashion sense, and helping out during the final battle. Borders on They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character, given how she's last seen being dragged out a window by a vampire while less likable characters make it out unscratched. Some fans like to think she either did make it out alive or at least was turned and got revenge on Kimberly for letting her get taken.
- Mr. Murray, the Fearless Fool Former Teen Rebel principal played by Stephen Root, is fondly remembered by most fans despite only having a few scenes with dialogue.
- Kimberly may be an unrepentantly mean Valley Girl, but her constant spewing of hilarious lines and being played by a young Hilary Swank win her a lot of fans.
Novels and Short Stories
- Sophie Carstensen and her successor Eleanor Boudreau, previous Slayers featured in the at least partially non-canon book Spike & Dru: Pretty Maids All In A Row, have decent fanbases despite their obscurity.
- Many of the Watchers from Spike & Dru: Pretty Maids All in a Row (such as the psychic Yanna, Cool Old Guy Sir Trevor Kensington, a Travers White Sheep, Those Two Guys Haversham and Rubie, and Humble Pie-eating Charles Rochemont) are among the best-liked Buffyverse Watchers from any media.
- Rieka, The Lad-ette werewolf member of the Caper Crew in Bloody Fool for Love: A Spike Prequel is considered by many to be both the best fighter and the most well-developed original character in the book, making for a satisfying combination.
- India Cohen, who (in two ambiguously canon books written by Nancy Holder) is the Slayer directly before Buffy, gets a lot of praise as a well-developed character who could have been used more often.
- Jacques Regnier from The Gatekeeper Trilogy has a decent following for being the last of a Woobie Family and Badass Family of immensely powerful and tragic Gate Guardians and having some Distaff Counterpart moments with Buffy, given their mutual Blessed with Suck powers and circumstances.
- Anna, a new Slayer in the Bad Future of The Lost Slayer tetraolgy, gets some praise for being an impressively tough and surprisingly well-developed Sixth Ranger in her limited page time.
- The long-lived Thessilly Thessilonikki, Silk Hiding Steel Espernanza de la Vega, Marie-Christine Du Lac (who gets a considerable amount of Character Development), Dot Singer (who cares for her Watcher after his Sanity Slippage), surprisingly strong-willed beatnik Zoë Kuryakin, Sweet Polly Oliver Xiaoquin, Hard Boiled Detective Betty Winters, Asha Sayre (an African-American orphan in the fifties who gets to fight back against racists and vampires at the same time, with a lot of her popularity reflecting onto her Watcher Laurent), and the eponymous "Sideshow Slayer" Millie Gresham each only appear in a single story from the Tales of the Slayer anthology collections but are seen as being particularly compelling and promising past Slayers.
- Many characters from the Slayer duology have loyal fans, but quirky, happiness-emitting Non-Malicious Monster Doug and Watcher Imogen Post (for some interesting Beneath the Mask moments) are the most universally well-liked characters from those books.
- Queen Mab, from the novel Little Things, is one of the better liked literary Big Bads of the franchise. This is due to her being a vampire fairy who both milks her status for quite a few Creepy Awesome moments and has some poignant lamentations about why she hates her vampire half.
- Xander's Girl of the Week in the novel Revenant, Mysterious Protector and Action Girl Shing, is highly rated among the novel-exclusive characters. Occult Detective Art Sledge from the same book may not be as popular as her, but is still surprisingly distinct and recognizable (or maybe not, considering his colorfulness) to Buffyverse novel fans despite only having one or two scenes.
- The Slayer Elizabeth is only in some flashback chapters of Blood and Fog, but attracts a lot of interest and sympathy for her Cowardly Lion and Smarter Than They Look moments and reluctant Enemy Mine alliance with Angelus and his gang.
- Enigmatic Minion Hopscotch from Coyote Moon is a big part of why that novel is as highly regarded as it is.
- The various Big Bads of the Christopher Golden and Nancy Holder novels are among the most frequently praised ones in the Buffy EU for their interesting backstories and formidable natures, but even among that ensemble, a frequent favorite is Veronique from Immortal (a vampire who possesses a new vampiric body every time her old one is staked).
- Undead Child Callie from One Thing or Your Mother has fans who wish she had appeared in more books due to her bonding with Spike and how she is initially more conflicted about killing than most vampires.
- A.J. and Marty (two workers at the movie theater Nikki Wood rents a room above in Blackout) only have three and two scenes, respectively, but are decently remembered for the color they add to both her life and her supporting cast.
Comics
- Lisel, the Bespectacled Cutie Token Good Teammate (relatively speaking) of the vampire gang from Freaks and Geeks is better liked than most one-shot comic characters.
- Marcus and Mary Lou Sidle are only in the final act of one prequel comic storyline but have a good fanbase for getting some unique fighting scenes and memorable lines due to being a Corrupt Corporate Executive pair of conjoined twins with one human and one vampire member.
- 1930s Slayer Rachel O'Connor only appears in half of a comic oneshot but is widely viewed as an impressive and memorable addition to the Buffyverse.
- Empowered Badass Normal Watchers Council Rogue Agent Alexa Landry only appears in one four-part story, but is far more popular than antagonists with far more page time.
- Lipstick Lesbian Slayer Satsu only appears in one season of comics but is popular enough to have a Wikipedia page.
