Fanfic / Spider, Slayer, Vampires and Avengers

The Spider, Slayer, Vampires and Avengers series by Aragorn_II_Elessar is a crossover fanfic series between the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Buffyverse that starts during the Buffy Season 5/Angel Season 2 time period for the Buffyverse side and after Spider-Man: Homecoming for the MCU side.

It involves Peter Parker going to Sunnydale and Matt Murdock going to Los Angeles, and their presence starts changing things for the two shows.

The series was finished in February 2022, and consists of eight works:

Works in the Series

• "The Spider, the Slayer and the Key": Post Spider-Man: Homecoming, Peter and May move away to Sunnydale from New York to get away from Tony and the Sokovia Accords. Peter soon meets some new people and finds out his new residence is even stranger than his old one.
• "A Devil in the City of Angels": When a man victimized by Wolfram and Hart shows up at the doorstep of 'Nelson, Murdock and Page', the three go to the City of Angels to help him out, and there they find out the city is stranger than what they have heard.
• "Avengers, Slayer, Devil and Stones": Thanos starts his quest to collect the Infinity Stones, and it is up to the Avengers and the Scooby Gang to stop him. But at the end of the day, the only way to fix this whole mess lies with Matt Murdock.
• "Devil, Slayer and Vampires": Faith's probation period is almost over as Matt visits Los Angeles to meet Team Angel again, only to be caught up in the middle of an unexpected pregnancy, and things get all sorts of weird from there.
• "A Power against the Devil": Angel and Cordelia have gone missing, and in the latter's case, there's a lot more to it than meets the eye. Matt, Faith and Team Angel now must defeat an ancient Power with an ancient plan if they are to save the world.
• "Beneath the Spider": Buffy's old school has reopened, and Peter and Dawn both attend it. A new principal as well as a new science teacher show up too. But there is something evil lurking in the town, and from beneath you, it devours.
• "Angel and Devil at Law": Team Angel now runs the LA branch of Wolfram and Hart, and can they deal with this new position they've been thrust into without being corrupted?
• "The Apocalypse is Here": The Avengers, Scooby Gang, Team Angel, X-Men, Defenders, Agents of SHIELD and various other heroes unite to battle their most dangerous and powerful foe yet, while meeting allies and enemies old and new, with faces familiar and unfamiliar.

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Tropes present in the series:

• Accidental Time Travel: Illyria does this like in canon, getting displaced to random points in her timeline.
• Action Girl: So many of them- Buffy Summers, Faith Lehane, Willow Rosenberg, Tara Maclay, Cordelia Chase, Dawn Summers, Natasha Romanoff, Wanda Maximoff, Bobbi Morse, Jemma Simmons, Illyria, Felicia Hardy and quite a few more. All of them are forces to be reckoned with.
• Actor Allusion:
  • Team Angel are freaked out by Clint's resemblance to Penn when they first meet him.
  • Coulson notes how Fred looks like his former girlfriend Audrey, while the rest of his team note Gunn's resemblance to Mike Peterson aka Deathlok.
  • Cynthia York from the Angel episode Birthday is renamed to Ella Lopez.
  • Tomas from the Buffy episode Help is renamed to Rene.
  • When Giles meets his younger doppelganger, he is hypothetically cast as Bradley James because he played Arthur in Merlin (2008) where Anthony Head played Uther, his father.
• Adaptational Badass:
  • Matt Murdock is the prime example of this in the series. While obviously a very skilled fighter with superhuman senses, in this series, its revealed that Mephisto put the power of the Devil in the Murdock family men. Matt is the first to unleash it and so he can become a very powerful Demon to battle really powerful foes who'd otherwise outclass him in every way.
  • Stick as a ghost is one too, as in canon, while he was a very skilled and experienced fighter, here being a ghost gives him additional abilities which he uses very well.
  • While Natasha Romanoff, Jemma Simmons and Felicia Hardy are very skilled people in canon, here they are enhanced as well due to being turned into Slayers, having been revealed to be Potentials.
  • The people turned by Apocalypse into his Horsemen. While all of them were powerful in canon, their increased powers make them a threat to even big groups of heroes.
• Adaptational Early Appearance:
  • Gavin Park first appears around the time Darla and Drusilla are still rampaging rather than before Team Angel leaves for Pylea.
  • Satsu and Renee make their first appearance during Buffy Season 7 instead of the Buffy Season 8 comics.
• Adaptational Heroism:
  • In canon, Harmony Kendall betrayed the good guys due to her Chronic Back Stabbing Disorder but here, due to her relationship with Groo, she is more genuinely invested in the good side, and her job of distracting Hamilton is given to someone else, with her being told to do what she thinks is right. She steals money and books from the firm for the good guys.
  • Lilah Morgan gets a redemption arc and becomes a genuinely good person by the end of Angel Season 5, even killing Lindsey and luring Hamilton into a confrontation with Angel.
• Adaptational Nice Guy:
  • This would definitely be Lilah Morgan due to her redemption arc. While still snarky, she is now evil for the good guys and a genuine ally and friend to them, meaning the bad guys better watch out.
  • Also Ghost Stick, as while still snarky and a bit insulting, he is much nicer and caring than he ever was in canon.
• Adaptational Sympathy: This ends up being given to X-24 from Logan as its pointed out he is basically just a created clone with no free will, and unlike Laura, he had no chance to be anything other than what they made him. So because of that, alongside the five Spider-Man villains from Spider-Man: No Way Home, he too is to be cured.
• Adaptational Villainy: Ned Leeds becomes the Hobgoblin because he's angry that Peter did not contact him even after returning to New York and feels that he got cut out by his friend, losing his identity as the 'guy in the chair' in the process.
• Adaptational Wimp: For this, it would definitely be The First Evil. In canon, it existed as a personification of all evil. But here, it is revealed by Mephisto, that the First exists because of pre-existing evil, its basically created due to evil in people's hearts, and is only limited to Earth, and actually takes credit for other, worse beings' evil as well. Even the Beljoxa's Eye only bought the First's hype. Mephisto ends it by calling the First a 'brat'.
• Adaptational Relationship Overhaul:
  • In the actual show, Angel and Cordelia had feelings for each other, and came close to having a relationship many times but something always came in the way. Their first real kiss happened just before Cordelia's passing, so while they had feelings, they could never be a couple. But here, Cordelia was not infatuated with Groo on meeting him due to her breakup with Matt a while earlier, so when Groo returns in Season 3, Cordelia does not fall head-over-heels for him, and Angel confesses to her as both end up in a relationship. And later, Cordelia survives her Jasmine ordeal, and joins the team at Wolfram & Hart, so she and Angel remain a loving couple while raising baby Connor. In the final story of the series, they're both married, raising Connor, and Cordelia is pregnant with Angel's next kid, since Angel became human via Shanshu.
  • Spike and Buffy were enemies in the show and eventually became tense allies, with Spike having feelings for Buffy. But, in Season 6, when they were together, it was a toxic romance where both used and abused each other, and it culminated in Spike attempting to rape Buffy before being stricken with horror on realizing what he did, after which he got his soul back. Buffy eventually forgave him as with his soul, he was a good person, but they never got a chance to be in a proper, healthy relationship again due to Spike's sacrifice. Here, Buffy survived Season 5's end, so when she and Spike are a couple, it is a toxic relationship, but not as bad as canon, and not violent either. Its Spike's callousness after Thanos' snap killing half of all life that makes Buffy punch him angrily, and that shocks him since this was the first time she hit him after they became a couple. This realization is his wake-up call, and what leads him to getting his soul back. When he returns, he is mad and rambling like in canon, but Buffy takes care of him, and eventually, he recovers. After that, Buffy sees how much he has changed, and they become an actual couple in a healthy relationship. At the end of the last story, Spike is a Daywalker like Blade and he and Buffy are married.
  • Lilah's relationship with the whole of Team Angel, including Wesley. In canon, Lilah and Wesley were together for some time, but still on opposing sides, even if they'd feelings. But here, Lilah survives her canonical death and in Season 5, realizes she can be better after seeing Team Angel's better treatment of her. So she has a Redemption Quest where she joins the good guys, and even kills Lindsey instead of Lorne. And, by the end of the series, she and Wesley, who are now in a healthier relationship, are married with two children, though Lilah jokingly suggests some violent solutions to her kids.
  • Harmony's relationship with Team Angel, including Cordelia, as due to her relationship with Groo, she ends up being a more integral part of the team and does not turn on them.
• Adapted Out:
  • Jonathan Levinson and Andrew Wells never appear because Warren is caught and arrested in his very first appearance.
  • In this series' version of Angel Season 2 Episode 4 'Untouched', Matt finds Bethany before Angel, so Angel, Cordelia and Wesley are adapted out of this series' version of that episode, and are replaced by Matt, Karen and Foggy.
  • Due to the vastly different version of Avengers: Endgame, Thanos from the past is replaced by Magus instead.
  • Justine's and Connor's role in throwing Angel to the bottom of the ocean is taken by an even crazier Drusilla and Holtz's remaining cohorts whom she hypnotized.
  • In the final story's version of Spider-Man: No Way Home, Michelle and Ned are both not present, the former being replaced by Dawn, while some of the latter's actions are performed by Tara, mainly just opening the portals to the other two Spider-Men.
  • In a way, its Connor, at least the teenage version of him. Because when Holtz takes baby Connor away, Matt transforms into the Devil Adam and goes after him, Mephisto using his powers to change time zones for all Dimensions, so its longer for Adam and much shorter for Holtz and Connor. Due to that, Adam saves Connor and brings him back as a baby. And so, at the end of it, Connor remains a growing baby in Angel Seasons 4 and 5.
  • Mesektet does not appear as Connor is still a baby and not at W&H, meaning except Wesley saving Lilah, no one from Team Angel has any need to go to the firm. Instead, its the First Evil that tells Team Angel of the Ra-Tet, alongside 'the answer lies among you' hint due to Jasmine posing a threat to it.
• Affably Evil: Like in canon, it'd be Holland Manners and most other workers of Wolfram and Hart, and even Marcus Hamilton.
• Alas, Poor Villain:
  • Like in canon, Nomak wanted his pain to end and stabs himself further, dying with an expression of peace.
  • In his dying moments, Morbius seems to come to his senses and regret his actions as Apocalypse's Horseman.
• Ambiguously Evil:
  • Jasmine considers herself to be this, just like in canon, and her followers even say she wants to spread the love.
  • Apocalypse is one too, since from his own POV he considers everyone else a threat to reality.
• Ambiguous Situation: When Matt encounters Stick for the first few times, it is not made clear if its a hallucination or a ghost. But two stories later, Stick is confirmed to be a ghost after all.
• Amoral Attorney: Not a surprise as Wolfram and Hart are a major presence in this series, especially Lilah and Lindsey, and even Holland.
• Antagonist Title: While most of the works in this series have a Protagonist Title, the final story's title, that is The Apocalypse is here, is a reference to the story's villain, that being of course Apocalypse.
• Ascended Extra:
  • The unseen man threatened with his children's death by Lilah on phone call in Angel Season 2 Episode 1 'Judgment' becomes a client of Nelson, Murdock and Page, who represent him in court against Wolfram and Hart. His name is Donald Sullivan, and he is pretty much the reason Matt ends up meeting Team Angel in the first place.
  • Johnny Blaze only had a cameo in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. when he passed on the Spirit of Vengeance to Robbie Reyes in a flashback. But here, he appears quite a bit and has a very important role in Avengers, Slayer, Devil and Stones.
  • Groo can be considered this as he was only a supporting character who appeared in a few episodes of Angel Seasons 2 and 3, but in this series he joins Team Angel full-time and becomes a member of the main cast of heroes.
  • The Immortal gets a much bigger role than in canon, since he is revealed to be Marvel's Hercules.
  • In the actual movie, Eddie Brock/Venom only had a cameo in a post-credits scene but here, they join the final battle and even take on the Eddie Brock/Venom from Spider-Man 3.
• Ascended Meme:
  • All three Peter Parkers pointing at each other like in the actual movie, and even Peter Maximoff joins in by raising a hand and saying he's Peter too.
  • A darker variation of this occurs in Beneath the Spider, as Uncle Ben is hypothetically cast as Tobey Maguire, and when The First Evil takes Ben's form, he uses the lines of Bully Maguire in a very dark context.
• Asshole Victim: While being tortured by Mephisto for eternity is a horrible fate, no one cares that its Daniel Holtz who meets that fate.
• Back from the Dead:
  • The villains in the final story who have come from other worlds like Norman Osborn, Doctor Octopus, Venom, Electro, Russian, Jigsaw, Blackheart, Blackout, Lothos and Amilyn are pulled to this Universe sometime before their deaths so for the Heroes, they're back from the dead.
  • Apocalypse ends up bringing Adam from Buffy Season 4 back to life and gives him a more terrifying form while making him the Horseman of War.
  • Some of the Heroes as well like Elektra and David Banner are pulled into the Universe before their deaths and for their loved ones, they're back from the dead.
  • Magus returns to life in the final story but is now the heroic Adam Warlock because death and resurrection made him have a Heel–Face Turn.
• Beware the Nice Ones:
  • Groo is very sweet and nice. But Holtz's cohorts anger him so much due to their machinations that parted Angel and Cordelia from baby Connor, that he brutally trashes a group of them, causing the remaining to flee in fear.
  • Peter is known for being such a nice and stand-up guy. But when May dies, he ends up having an Unstoppable Rage, pretty much pummeling Norman, almost to death.
  • Willow is one of the sweetest persons around, always so kind and caring. But when Thanos' snap kills Tara, she too ends up having an Unstoppable Rage, and becomes Dark Willow, actually managing to use her power to skin Thanos alive.
  • Lorne is of course a sweet dude who usually abstains from fighting, being a non-violent person. But when Fred is infected, he punches Eve and threatens her quite well.
• Big Badass Battle Sequence: The final battles of Avengers, Slayer, Devil and Stones, Beneath the Spider and Angel and Devil at Law all count, and pretty much all the big battles in The Apocalypse is here, especially the first and last ones.
• Big Bad Wannabe:
  • This is essentially The First Evil in this series due to the fact that much worse enemies are around and its nothing compared to them, and is even called a 'brat'.
  • Even Jasmine can be considered one compared to the other Big Bads, as it is pointed out there are many parties who'd oppose her even if her plan ends up succeeding, and she overconfidently states she can take on them without actually thinking if she is even capable of going up against any of them.
• Big Damn Heroes:
  • Ghost Dennis protects Cordelia from Bullseye when he tries to kill her.
  • Giles, empowered by the Devon Coven, saves Wanda and Vision from Glaive and Midnight, while delivering his iconic line- "I'd like to test that theory."
  • Matt jumps in to save Angel from Holtz and his Grapplar Demons when they ambush him at the Hyperion Hotel.
  • As Angelus chases Lilah and "Cordelia" through the Hyperion Hotel, Groo comes in and battles Angelus to protect them. His presence saves Lilah from being killed by "Cordelia".
  • Before Hamilton can stake Angel, Hercules/The Immortal appears and punches him away, saving Angel's life.
  • Frank seems close to being overpowered by both Russoti and the Russian, only for his doppelgangers to make their first appearance and help him in defeating them.
  • When Green Goblin confronts Peter and Tony's doppelganger at the bridge, Quicksilver pops out of nowhere and saves them both.
• Bittersweet Ending: While at the end of the series, the Heroes have won the day, with those who still live now leading happy and full lives, Giles and May have been slain in the battle, as well as Daisy, Vi and Kennedy, while the Devil inside Matt who is Adam Murdock and Stick's spirit sacrificed themselves to permanently end Apocalypse. Their losses still do hang a shadow over the Heroes even 5 years later. Not to mention its mentioned near the end that Peter recently had to fight Ned who had a Face–Heel Turn and became Hobgoblin.
• Brainwashed and Crazy:
  • Carol Danvers, alongside some of the Kree, end up being mind-controlled by the power of Magus, because they're weak-willed, and join his army.
  • In the final story, Ethan Rayne influences Buffy by having a magical locust go into her ear and she says horrible things to everyone around her, before picking a fight, until Matt punches the locust out of her ear, and she regrets everything she just said.
• Break Them by Talking: Mephisto does this to Caleb when the preacher is transported to his world, by telling him the truth about the First Evil, calling it a brat, and that serves to completely break Caleb right before his physical torture starts.
• Call-Back:
  • Cordelia jokes in the second story that Steven Seagal could not have become a movie star without Demonic assistance. The seventh story has Lorne say that Seagal wants to renew his contract with Wolfram and Hart, causing Cordelia to exclaim that she knew it.
  • There's a reference to Moloch from Buffy Season 1 by Cordelia in the seventh story when El Diablo Robotico is mentioned, and Angel does not know about Moloch, while Faith does, causing Angel to say that no one tells him anything.
• The Cameo: Like in the MCU movies, some of the stories have a cameo by Stan Lee.
• Canon Welding:
  • Instead of Mortonson University, Lilah Morgan studied at Columbia University where she and Matt Murdock dated each other briefly.
  • When Sabretooth was hit by Scott Summers in the first X-Men movie, while falling, he ended up being sucked into Pylea.
  • Sineya is revealed to have been Bashenga's grandmother, having had a child before she was made a Slayer. Because of that, Bast now protects Wakandan women from being Potentials.
  • The Immortal is revealed to be the Marvel version of Hercules who underwent a self-reflection journey after leaving Olympus, and his stint as the Immortal was part of it.
  • Gwen Raiden had studied in not just a random Superhero School but Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters.
  • Damaskinos was a member of the Circle of the Black Thorn before his death. When Angel is infiltrating the Circle, he replaces Damaskinos as the new powerful Vampire due to his control over Wolfram and Hart.
• "Cavemen vs. Astronauts" Debate: The original one makes an appearance in the seventh story, and everyone else is roped into the debate as well.
• Character Development:
  • The biggest example probably is Lilah Morgan. At the start of the series, she is exactly the same self-serving evil and snarky bitch she is in canon. Then, after her surviving past her canonical death, she ends up with Wesley again, and eventually, she grows fond of Team Angel while they're at Wolfram & Hart, and, as time passes, she sees that not just Wesley, but all of them have started caring about her, unlike the Senior Partners who still can't be bothered about her. This causes a Heel–Face Turn for her and she redeems herself eventually, and even cries happily over her change at the story's end.
  • Then another example is Faith Lehane, who at the start is in prison, but is met by Willow who is trying to redeem herself for her Dark Willow phase. And so, this inspires her, and Matt manages to free her from prison, after which she becomes better, and eventually, a hero and vigilante in New York, while also fixing her relationship with all the Scoobies. By the end of the series, she is married to Matt, they both have a pet dog, and a boy, while she is pregnant with another, and also a successful author, something people won't expect from Faith at all.
  • One more example would be both Matt Murdock and the Devil inside him. When the Devil first emerges, it is feral and crazy, and Matt is broken on realizing something like this exists within him. And the snap by Thanos claiming everyone he loved except Team Angel soon after doesn't help matters either. After all of that, he gets tortured by Mephisto who calls the Devil as 'Abaddon', a Destroyer Demon in Christianity. But, when he has to snap his fingers to end the enemies, he manages to do it alongside the Devil, and begins to understand him a bit better, even though Mephisto's manipulations are a barrier in the way. Eventually, Matt turns into the Devil to save baby Connor from Quor'toth, and on his return, understands him better. And later, when Matt and the Devil finally meet, Matt names him Adam after the first human, and he becomes Adam Murdock. Both of them work in perfect harmony from then on. At the end of the series, Adam manages to separate from Matt and sacrifices himself to destroy Apocalypse, while Matt grieves him and also Stick who too sacrificed himself.
  • Illyria as well, since while she starts out as an Old One with a superiority complex, being one with Fred does mellow her a bit, and she even seems to enjoy cartoons like Tom and Jerry and Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner. She and Fred also reach an understanding in time. Then eventually, like Fred, she too falls for Steve, and in the last story she, Fred and Steve are in a three-way relationship, with both Steve and Fred being good influences on her. In the epilogue five years later, Steve and Fred are married with a baby, and Illyria seems to be content being part of this family life.
• The Chessmaster: Apocalypse shows signs of being one at least when Peter convinces everyone else to help him in curing the villains, as he mentally influences three of them to turn at the right moment while also sending his minions to make it worse. It ends with Giles and May dying and the heroes all devastated.
• The Chosen One: There is a prophecy according to Mephisto which states that the Devil inside Matt would be the one to end Apocalypse.
• Cliffhanger:
  • A Devil in the City of Angels ends with Matt, Angel, Cordelia, Wesley, Gunn and Fred returning to the Hyperion to find Buffy sitting there, and crying.
  • Devil, Slayer and Vampires ends with Angel thrown to the bottom of the ocean and Cordelia ascending while Drusilla and the minions of Holtz she mind-controlled will go after Team Angel to get baby Connor.
  • Inverted; In Angel and Devil at Law, during the alley fight, the Avengers, Scoobies and other Heroes arrive via portals to help Team Angel, Matt, Faith, Stick and Hercules. The final battle is actually shown, as well as its ultimate outcome, unlike in the TV series where it was left ambiguous.
• Closet Geek: Stick of all people, pulling references when it suits him.
• Cold-Blooded Torture:
  • Mephisto does this to Matt when he comes to ask for his help, for his own amusement.
  • Cordelia and Lilah torture Dr. Sparrow for his role in infecting Fred, and kill him after he gives them the information they needed.
• Combat Pragmatist: Matt Murdock is one, due to his skills and experience which allow him to defeat stronger opponents like Demons, and even Angel and Buffy in one-on-one combat, albeit after long and hard fights.
• Commonality Connection:
  • Logan and Spike have a conversation where they bond a bit over the fact that they're bad boys who tried to be better because they fell in love.
  • Matt Murdock and Bruce Banner have it too, since Matt's relationship with the Devil inside him is not very different from Bruce's and Hulk's relationship.
  • Peter and Dawn have one too because amongst the superheroes for the former and the Scoobies for the latter, they do have good ideas and contribute but are not as respected as the adult members still.
• Composite Character:
  • The Immortal and Marvel's Hercules are the same character here.
  • Apocalypse is revealed to be Marvel's Merlin who got corrupted by Mephisto instead.
• Continuity Overlap: While the first two stories take place at the same time, they are their own things and one does not need to read one to understand the other. But A Power against the Devil and Beneath the Spider have quite a lot of continuity overlap due to adapting Angel Season 4 and Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 7 respectively, with characters showing up in both the stories, and important events of both stories coming up in the other one as well, and to understand the ending of A Power against the Devil, one really has to read Beneath the Spider with it.
• Curb-Stomp Battle:
  • When Hydra ends up splitting Glory and Ben and then killing Ben, Glory turns on them and slaughters them all with her slowly returning power, including MODOK and Grim Reaper.
  • Kennedy tries to fight Felicia, only to find herself on the ground in seconds.
  • The moment Tara manages to release Adam the Devil from Matt in Jasmine's Dimension, he ends up defeating Jasmine effortlessly and takes her to Mephisto's Dimension.
  • When Caleb tries to fight Matt, Matt ends up using the power of the Devil inside him to easily defeat Caleb.
  • Ghost Stick trashes Magus Hainsley and then snaps his neck without being affected by his powers at all.
  • Matthias Pavayne tries his tricks on Ghost Stick and ends up being trashed brutally without doing any damage at all.
• Deal with the Devil:
  • Matt Murdock decides to make one with Johnny Blaze's help, going to ask Mephisto to undo the Snap. In return, he is tortured mentally and broken, though Mephisto does reveal how to undo the Snap.
  • Merlin made one with Mephisto in the past to defeat Shuma-Gorath. It did not end well for him, as he became Apocalypse.
• Death by Adaptation:
  • Drusilla ends up being staked by Spike himself.
  • Kennedy is turned by Morbius and minutes later, kills Vi before Amanda stakes her.
  • Apocalypse ends up turning Daisy Johnson into dust.
  • Rupert Giles has his neck magically snapped by Ethan Rayne, and dies.
  • It is mentioned that Harry Osborn from The Amazing Spider-Man Series ended up being killed by his own glider, similar to Norman Osborn from Spider-Man Trilogy.
• Death Is Cheap: Illyria ends up killing Angel, Spike, Lorne, Wesley and even Faith, but time is turned back by Strange so its all good.
• Demoted to Extra:
  • Sabretooth is usually a major supporting antagonist in X-Men media, but in A Devil in the City of Angels, he is a minor antagonist who fights Matt's Devil and is decapitated by Angel.
  • Kennedy does not end up with Willow here since Tara still lives. And when she tries to come onto Willow in ways that make her uncomfortable, Peter and Dawn magically put her to sleep and hang her on a tree upside down without pants, and also prank her a few more times to drive the point home. So her role is pretty much as an extra who no one likes at all.
• Did Not See That Coming: Mephisto believes he will be able to smite Adam Murdock, Matt's Devil effortlessly for the insolence he perceives from him, but instead is given a very hard fight because unlike him, Adam draws power from all Dimensions.
• Didn't Think This Through:
  • Hydra didn't when they decided to team up with Glory and split her from Ben so that she could open the portal from Dawn's Key blood, and they could take the Demons coming through portals for their army. First of all, its already heavily implied that the world could be destroyed by this, and then, when Glory is split from Ben she ends up slaughtering all of MODOK's Hydra group anyway.
  • Matt tries to ask Mephisto how to undo the Snap. But he did not think the whole thing through as he is then mentally tortured for Mephisto's amusement.
  • Strange points out to Jasmine she didn't think her world domination plan through as this time around there are still parties who'd oppose her, like the Masters of the Mystic Arts and the Asgardians, and other bad guys as well. She's not powerful enough to take on those either.
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Doctor Strange is able to use his powers to kill the Senior Partners themselves, wiping out their influence.
• Dies Differently in Adaptation:
  • Lindsey is shot to death like in canon. The difference? He is shot by a redeemed Lilah, who shoots him in the head so he doesn't get to go on a ramble.
  • Instead of being mauled by the Beast, Gavin is killed by being burnt by Ghost Rider's chain.
  • Holland Manners is saved from Darla and Drusilla, but later ends up being a victim of Ghost Rider's Penance Stare.
• Doppelgänger: The final story obviously has many of these, including the canonical ones from other Marvel and Buffyverse properties, and some original ones too.
• Doppelgänger Gets Same Sentiment:
  • Peter Parker and Dawn Summers both want to save Curt Connors because the one they knew, after he learnt to control his powers, sacrificed himself in the final battle against the First.
  • Cordelia ends up handing baby Connor to Darla's Ensouled doppelganger, so that he can be held by his real mother at least once.
• The Dreaded:
  • Daredevil actually scares the Demon community due to various rumors about him. And later it turns out that they were right to fear him after all.
  • Ghost Rider literally scares almost every Demon in existence to the point when he arrives in Los Angeles, all of them start fleeing. Even the good ones like Lorne barricade their homes.
  • Thanos scares quite a few people, like the Senior Partners, to the point they've a plan to evacuate all their employees to a different Dimension when Thanos decides to come to Earth. It doesn't save them from the snap.
  • Mephisto of course. He is a major presence throughout the Series, and terrifies everyone, including other bad guys- the Pyleans, Sahjhan, Jasmine, the First Evil, and even Illyria and the Senior Partners all fear him, as well as the power of his Devil inside Matt Murdock.
  • And then there is Apocalypse, who is so powerful and terrifying that even Mephisto doesn't appear in front of him, even though he gave him the power.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Mephisto finds The First Evil to be nothing more than an annoying brat who takes credit for others' evil.
• Evil Counterpart: Angel's doppelganger who is Dark Angel never got past his dark phase, while Spike's soulless doppelganger chose to be a Turok-Han like Demon instead of getting his soul back after his attempted rape of Buffy.
• Evil Doppelgänger: The final story has a few of these for the Heroes, mainly a MCU version of Captain Hydra, an Angel who never recovered from his dark phase, a Spike who chose to become a Turok-Han like monster instead of getting his soul back after his attempted rape of Buffy. The Venom from the 2018 Venom movie also meets his doppelganger from the third Raimi Spider-Man movie.
• Evil Is Petty: Ethan Rayne could have mind-controlled anyone with his locust, including perhaps a very powerful hero to make the work of his master Apocalypse easier. But he chose Buffy specifically to get back at Giles, as she is like a daughter to him.
• Evil vs. Evil:
  • The First Evil and Jasmine possessing Cordelia both end up confronting one another at one point, with the First taunting Jasmine and subtly hinting to Team Angel about "Cordelia's" true nature, being the one to tell Team Angel of Ra-Tet here and also giving them 'the answer lies among you' hint rather than Mesektet.
  • In the final story, Mephisto willingly boosts Matt's Devil a bit to take out Apocalypse, his most evil creation.
• Face–Heel Turn: Ned Leeds has one off-screen in the epilogue and becomes Hobgoblin to go after Peter due to feeling angry that Peter never brought him back to the hero business after returning to New York, and so he lost his identity as 'the guy in the chair'.
• Fate Worse than Death: Pretty much any villain who is brought to Mephisto's Realm by Adam Murdock, the Devil inside Matt. These include- Justine, Sahjhan, Holtz, Jasmine and Caleb.
• Fire-Forged Friends: Angel and Matt are just this, because at the start, Angel focused on tracking down Daredevil after the Darla mess, even trying to prove Matt is Daredevil. And during his 'Dark Angel' phase, Matt had to fight Angel to knock sense into him. However, when Angel came back to normal, the two of them became very good friends, best friends one cay say.
• Five-Second Foreshadowing: Before the final battle with Apocalypse, Mephisto reveals that there is a prophecy implying that the Devil inside Matt shall end Apocalypse. Then, shortly after that, right in the final battle, the Devil Adam Murdock sacrifices himself to take out Apocalypse.
• Foreshadowing:
  • In A Devil in the City of Angels, a lot of references are made to Matt's inner Devil by Lorne, more than usual, and Ghost Rider at one point even grabs him by the face and inspects him for something familiar before letting him go. Near the end of the story, it is revealed that Matt can somehow transform into an actual Demon, and even later, it is revealed that Mephisto put his power in the Murdock family men as one of his many games, and Matt is the first to access it. Since Blaze too got his Ghost Rider power from Mephisto, he recognized the same power within Matt.
  • Ghost Rider comes across Darla when she is leaving Los Angeles after her one-night stand with Angel, and she thinks he is going to end her, but instead he looks at her abdomen and says 'innocent' before leaving. This is of course a reference to Darla being pregnant and then giving birth to Connor.
• For Want Of A Nail: While the basic plots of the Seasons remain the same, the presence of Peter and Matt do cause some significant changes.
  • Peter manages to hand over Warren to the police in his first appearance, so no Trio, and most of Season 6 does not happen.
  • Matt and Faith get invited to Xander's and Anya's wedding, and there Matt senses who 'Future Xander' truly is, so he kicks him out and uses his Devil Power to make the Demon stay away forever. So Xander and Anya get to be happy together.
  • Due to Cordelia having broken up with Matt shortly before Pylea, she doesn't get attracted to Groo, so when he is deposed and comes to Earth, he does not end up dating Cordelia and breaking up with her, because of which he becomes a permanent member of Team Angel. His presence saves Lilah's life, and also saves Gunn from being mortally wounded by Brucker's Vampires. In a way, Matt is indirectly responsible for these changes simply because he dated Cordelia.
• A Friend in Need: Matt for Angel, trying to help him get through his dark phase in any way he can, even fighting him when necessary.
• Friendly Enemy: Angel and Spike, always fighting about one thing or the other. The topics vary from who is Matt's best friend, to astronauts vs. cavemen, to which is the best Star Wars movie.
• Friendly Ghost: This is, out of all people, Stick, who manages to stay around as a ghost. And while snarky and exactly like he was in life, he does help Team Angel and Matt, especially in Wolfram and Hart.
• Friendship Favoritism: Angel and Spike keep arguing about who is Matt's best friend out of the two of them, to the others' amusement.
• Fusion Fic: Of the setting fusion variety. The Buffyverse has a Setting Update to the The New '10s. Also the vampires from Blade (1998) have their traits replaced completely by those from the Buffyverse.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Faith gets very jealous when someone tries to make a move on Matt, like threatening Lilah who'd tried to lure him to her side and see if he really was blind, or her fighting more ferociously on finding out Jasmine in Cordelia's body tried to make a move on Matt. Matt is not very different, as he threatened Chupa for the same in regards to Faith.
• Godzilla Threshold: The Heroes have together faced down villains like Glory, Sahjhan, Jasmine, the First Evil, the Senior Partners, Thanos and Magus, but Apocalypse is worse than all of them, and even together, they struggle to beat him. In the final battle, Steve using Mjolnir empowered by the Power Stone, Tony having a suit empowered by the Space Stone, Strange with the Time Stone, Wanda with the Reality Stone, Adam Warlock with the Soul Stone, Willow Rosenberg with the Mind Stone, along with Ghost Rider and Hulk, and also a boosted Thor, Hercules and Matt/Adam struggle to take him down.
• Good Cop/Bad Cop: Angel and Matt play this routine with a Demon to make him talk. In Angel's words, he is the 'Bad Cop' and Matt is the 'Worse Cop'.
• Happy Ending Override:
  • The end of Avengers, Slayer, Devil and Stones looks like a perfectly happy ending, until of course the sequels come around.
  • A Power against the Devil has quite a happy ending too, with the Scoobies having plans of what to do with Sunnydale gone and Cordelia waking up, but the sequel at Wolfram & Hart shows that the 'happy ending' was just a reprieve.
  • Angel and Devil at Law has a happy ending as well, with Lilah redeemed and part of Team Angel, while Angel and Cordelia get engaged, but then comes the sequel where Apocalypse is released, and it all goes downhill from there.
• Heartbroken Badass:
  • Matt Murdock after Thanos' snap takes away everyone he loves except Team Angel.
  • Faith Lehane as well, when Matt as the Devil goes to Quor'toth to save baby Connor, and both of their fates remain unknown.
  • Like in canon, it'd be Peter-3 as he still hasn't forgiven himself for Gwen's death until he saves Dawn from a similar fate.
• Heel–Face Turn:
  • Lilah Morgan has one on realizing how little the Senior Partners care about her while Team Angel are actually more accepting of her now.
  • Magus has this when he comes back to life as Adam Warlock instead, and has the Soul Stone with him.
  • Like in canon, it'd be Norman Osborn and Otto Octavius after they're cured. And even X-24. They also help in fighting some of Apocalypse's army.
• Heroic Sacrifice:
  • The ghost of Stick does this to destroy Apocalypse's spell using the ghostly energy within him, and it destroys his spirit form too.
  • Adam, the Devil inside Matt, separates from him in the final battle and sacrifices himself to stop Apocalypse.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners:
  • Easily Matt and Lorne. They are both very tight, and singing buddies as well, and even went on a long drive together where apparently they were singing as well. Lorne also helps Matt deal with the Devil inside him quite a bit.
  • Matt and Angel are this too, considering their strong bond throughout the entire series once Angel's dark phase is over.
  • Spike seems to think he and Matt are this as well. Of course Angel disagrees for very obvious reasons.
• Hypocrite:
  • When Hamilton tells Wesley that the Senior Partners want Illyria gone, Wesley points out that the Senior Partners trashed Gunn when he went to them to ask for a way to save Fred from Illyria taking over her body.
  • When the Vampire doppelganger of Robin Wood tells Spike that he's not a monster like him, Spike is astounded by the hypocrisy, since Vampire Robin joined up with Apocalypse of all people to get back at a completely different Spike from the one he knew.
• In Spite of a Nail:
  • While most of the characters who died in the actual Seasons survive here, outside of that, the basic plots of all Seasons starting from Buffy Season 5/Angel Season 2 until Angel Season 5 are the same, except Buffy Season 6 which does not happen except the musical, and that too under vastly different circumstances, and Xander's and Anya's wedding which goes off without a hitch, and Dark Willow too but it happens under different circumstances as well and before either of these events.
  • Warren is arrested in his very first appearance, but it does not prevent the rise of Dark Willow, since Tara becomes a victim of Thanos' snap, and before that, in a vain attempt to stop him, Willow had tried to absorb the power of the Infinity Stones. And these circumstances together lead to her mind breaking like in canon as she uses her new powers to go to the Garden at the same time as the other Heroes, and tortures and skins Thanos alive just as Thor decapitates him, and later tries to destroy the world in her madness until Xander talks her down But, fortunately, since Thanos' snap gets reversed later, Tara comes back to life as well.
  • With the exception of other characters being added and also Whistler surviving the first movie, the two Blade movies happen pretty much the same as in canon.
  • Even though there are more Heroes opposing him this time, Thanos still manages to snap his fingers and wipe out half of all life.
  • One would think that Buffy surviving the end of Season 5 would prevent the rise of the First as her resurrection caused its return. But, it still ends up happening because Thanos' snap and its reversal give the First a foothold.
  • Even though there are many more Heroes present this time, Peter's attempt to cure the villains ends up in tragedy like in canon, and May dies, and even Giles loses his life. Though, to be fair, many more villains are present here, including Apocalypse's powerful Horsemen, and this is all caused by Apocalypse, so it makes sense that the final outcome is the same.
• Karma Houdini: Averted with Riley, as here Buffy calls him out for his stunt with the Vampire prostitutes while pointing out her mother was sick, and he could have spoken to her after the situation was stable instead of doing this. Later, when Riley returns with Samantha, Anya blurts out the truth of the breakup situation to him, and its clear he had told her a warped version of events. Samantha is very angry and yells at him. Later, it is implied she might divorce him as well.
• Killed Off for Real:
  • Like in canon, Joyce dies of her brain aneurysm.
  • Darla sacrifices herself to give birth to her son.
  • The Infinity War permanently claims the life of Vision, Gamora as well as Loki.
  • In the final story, Giles and May end up dying due to Apocalypse, as do many others like Daisy, Kennedy, and Vi. At the end of it, Stick and Adam Murdock who is the Devil inside Matt sacrifice themselves to stop Apocalypse.
• Killed Offscreen: Gamora's death is not shown, but its confirmed that she died just like in canon.
• Love at First Sight: While it takes time for Peter and Dawn to become a couple, they do seem to have a connection right from the first time they meet each other.
• Love Confession: Faith makes her love confession to Matt in the Musical Episode after a beautiful little performance.
• The Man Behind the Man: Mephisto is revealed to have been the one who gave Merlin the power that turned him into Apocalypse, due to Merlin wanting to make a deal with him.
• Massive Multiplayer Crossover: The final story in the series would be an example of this. Up till now, this was a crossover between Marvel Cinematic Universe and Buffyverse, along with the main timeline of the X-Men Film Series, and the first two Blade movies, but, the final story in the series opens up the Multiverse and various other Marvel and Buffyverse properties get involved, those being Spider-Man Trilogy, The Amazing Spider-Man Series, Punisher: War Zone, Ghost Rider Duology, The Punisher (2004), the past timeline of the X-Men Film Series, Logan, Venom (2018), Hulk, The Incredible Hulk (1977), Fantastic Four (2005), Daredevil (2003), the 1992 Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie and the 2019 Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Boom! Studios) comics.
• The Mentor:
  • Giles is this for Buffy and the rest of the Scoobies, and May too is Peter's mentor for the majority of the series, being the adult parental figure in his life.
  • Wong becomes Willow's mentor after Thanos' snap and her own dark phase.
  • The two Variants of Peter end up becoming his own mentors after the deaths of May and Giles.
• The Multiverse: Other Dimensions like Pylea, Quor'toth, Jasmine's Dimension and the Senior Partners' Dimension are already part of the series, making it a Multiverse, but the final story is what opens up the Multiverse of alternate Earths as well, and it goes from a crossover between Marvel Cinematic Universe and Buffyverse, along with the main timeline of the X-Men Film Series, and the first two Blade movies, to also involving various other Marvel and Buffyverse properties, those being Spider-Man Trilogy, The Amazing Spider-Man Series, Punisher: War Zone, Ghost Rider Duology, The Punisher (2004), the past timeline of the X-Men Film Series, Logan, Venom (2018), Hulk, The Incredible Hulk (1977), Fantastic Four (2005), Daredevil (2003), the 1992 Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie and the 2019 Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Boom! Studios) comics.
• Mundane Solution: How does MODOK find out that Dawn Summers is the Key? Simple, he just makes a device to detect magical energy, and uses it on Buffy, Spike and Dawn, and it beeps for all three. Since Dawn is not a Slayer, Vampire or Witch, its obvious that she is the Key.
• The Musical: While its modified due to the different emotional states of the characters, and some characters like Matt, Peter, Faith and Lorne are added to it, the musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer ends up happening after all, and its a happier version of it.
• Musical Episode: Chapters 3 and 4 of Devil, Slayer and Vampires are essentially this, being an adaptation of the musical episode from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
• My Greatest Second Chance:
  • The Peter Parker from The Amazing Spider-Man Series saves Dawn Summers from falling to her death and redeems himself for the death of Gwen Stacy.
  • The Peter Parker from Spider-Man Trilogy stops the MCU Peter from killing Norman Osborn in a rage, thus redeeming himself for his failures with the Osborn family.
• Myth Arc: The storyline involving Matt and the Devil inside him called Adam is a constant throughout the series starting from A Devil in the City of Angels, and is involved in every story of the series from then on in some capacity, until reaching its resolution in the final story.
• Mythology Gag: Tony's doppelganger reveals that in his world, Happy and Pepper are married.
• Never Say That Again: When Sweet calls Matt as Abaddon, Matt screams that its not his name.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: While Mephisto does mentally torture Matt a lot in Avengers, Slayer, Devil and Stones, he does also tell him and Blaze how to undo Thanos' snap.
• Not So Above It All: When Team Angel while running Wolfram & Hart throw a party hosted by Lorne, even Mephisto of all people ends up attending while wearing a formal suit, and he also shares stories and laughter with the other Demons invited- albeit all of them involve bloodshed and massacre. Plus everyone is still terrified by him even here, with the party freezing in terror for a few seconds when he first arrives.
• Offscreen Inertia: A Power against the Devil and Beneath the Spider have a lot of it to justify the more powerful Heroes not getting involved.
  • In A Power against the Devil, its mentioned that Strange and the other Mystics are all in battle against Nightmare, which prevents them from helping against Jasmine.
  • While in Beneath the Spider, its revealed that Steve and Sam are going after Karli and the Flag Smashers all over the world, which is why they are unable to help out against the First Evil until near the story's end.
  • In Angel and Devil at Law, its mentioned that Strange and the other Mystics are in conflict against Karl Mordo currently, while at the same time, the Avengers and Buffy have been taken by some threat so they're missing, preventing any of them from helping when Fred is taken over by Illyria. When Strange finally defeats Mordo, he brings Fred back while she and Illyria share a body. Its not mentioned what exactly the Avengers and Buffy were facing, but by story's end they're all back and fine.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Giles taking out the Bringer which tried to kill him essentially becomes this, as the bit with the Bringer swinging his blade at Giles is shown, but not Giles taking it out later.
• One-Man Army: Apocalypse is very powerful and can defeat teams of Heroes by himself. In the final battle, Steve using Mjolnir empowered by the Power Stone, Tony having a suit empowered by the Space Stone, Strange with the Time Stone, Wanda with the Reality Stone, Adam Warlock with the Soul Stone, Willow Rosenberg with the Mind Stone, along with Ghost Rider and Hulk, and also a boosted Thor, Hercules and Matt/Adam struggle to take him down.
• Original Character:
  • This would be the Devil inside Matt Murdock put by Mephisto. He is later named Adam Murdock when he and Matt reach an understanding, and their relationship is like Bruce and Hulk.
  • Morzon, the other Hell Lord from the same Dimension as Glory, is also an original character in The Apocalypse is here.
  • While most of the doppelgangers in the final story are from other Marvel or Buffyverse properties, there are some original ones too, like a Tony Stark/Iron Man doppelganger played by Tom Cruise for the Marvel side, and for the Buffyverse side there would be- a nerd version of Cordelia, a version of Tara from Wishverse who is an apprentice of a good version of Ethan Rayne, and dresses sexily while behaving horny all the time, a Dawn who is both a Slayer and the Black Cat after the Buffy in her world permanently died in Season 5, a version of Spike who became a Watcher, a version of Angel who is not a Vampire but immortal Warlock, a young Giles who is still Ripper, an Ethan Rayne from his world, a hippy version of Faith who tries to not be violent and be positive and cheery all the time, a version of Darla who got Ensouled in Angel's place and in her Universe, the Shanshu Prophecy refers to her. Then amongst the villains there is a MCU version of Captain Hydra, an Angel who never got past his dark phase, a Spike who chose to become a powerful Turok-Han like creature instead of getting his soul back after his attempted rape of Buffy, and also a Vampire version of Robin Wood.
• Other Me Annoys Me: During the final storyline, when Steve Rogers and Tony Stark meet Johnny Storm (Fantastic Four (2005)), Tony observes that the young man is essentially Rogers with Tony's attitude, Steve reflecting that they would not have gotten along if Rogers had been like Johnny.
• Polyamory:
  • Fred Burkle and Illyria both share a body, and both have feelings for Steve Rogers. So, what's the solution to that? All three of them together in a relationship. Even if two of them share a body, its a three-way due to Fred and Illyria being different people.
  • Touched upon with Peter, Dawn and Felicia, as its revealed that there's a rumor in college of all three of them being together. But its not true.
• Protagonist Power-Up Privileges: Matt Murdock obviously ends up getting this one due to the Devil inside of him, and is now amongst the most powerful characters in the series very easily, even though his canonical iterations are only street-level at best.
• Protagonist Title: Most of the stories in the series have words like 'Spider', 'Devil', 'Slayer' or 'Vampire' in the title, and all of these are the protagonists- 'Spider' is Peter Parker, 'Devil' is Matt Murdock, 'Slayer' can refer to Buffy Summers or Faith Lehane, and 'Vampire' can refer to Angel or Spike.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Venom gives one to Venom while trashing him in the final battle, listing out all the reasons why he sucks.
• Redemption Equals Death: Played a bit differently with Magus. He dies at the end of Avengers, Slayer, Devil and Stones, and later returns in The Apocalypse is here, having been resurrected as the more heroic Adam Warlock. So one can say death changed and redeemed him.
• Redemption Quest:
  • Lilah Morgan goes through this in Angel and Devil at Law after her survival in the previous story.
  • Another example would be Faith Lehane when she is released from prison earlier than in canon and stays with Matt, and over the course of time becomes a hero and vigilante in New York City.
  • Willow Rosenberg, like in canon, after her Dark Willow phase, as she learns to control her magic under Wong and later defeats a mind-controlled Carol Danvers during the final battle, and a returned Tara assures her she redeemed herself.
  • Curt Connors as well when he is no longer under the First Evil's control and realizes all that he did as the Lizard. So he spends the rest of Beneath the Spider trying to control and harness it, and at the end of the story, sacrifices himself while fighting a group of Turok-Han.
• Rotating Protagonist: The main protagonists of the series seem to rotate between Matt, Faith, Peter, Angel, Cordelia, Buffy and Dawn. Though out of them all Matt seems to be at the center of pretty much all of it.
• Series Continuity Error: The client of Matt, Foggy and Karen in A Devil in the City of Angels is called Donald Smith for the first few chapters but becomes Donald Sullivan later without any explanation. Fortunately, he remains Donald Sullivan till the end of the series so its safe to say he'd be Donald Sullivan 'officially'.
• Sex God: Matt Murdock's other title should be this, due to how many women seem to be satisfied by him- Lilah, Cordelia and Faith.
• Sex Is Cool: Faith is very casual about sex, teasing Matt and even messing with Angel for some fun.
• Shipper on Deck: Peter and Dawn are huge shippers of Willow and Tara, to the point they even prank and threaten Kennedy when she tries to come onto Willow in ways that make her uncomfortable. It works too.
• Shout-Out:
  • Matt gets Tolkien's books for Faith to read, like The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion. Reading all these actually inspires Faith to become a writer herself, and by the end of the series, she is a popular author.
  • Matt battles a reptile like Demon at one point, and the fight is heavily based on the fight between Liu Kang and Reptile from the 1995 Mortal Kombat film, with the text even adding that the Reptile fight soundtrack from the movie is playing during this fight.
  • When Buffy and Faith make up in the last story, the scene resembles the one where Laurel and Sara made up in Arrow.
  • When Angel and Spike fight Robin Wood's Vampire doppelganger and his Vampire minions, the scene is heavily based on the penultimate episode of The Originals Season 1 when Elijah and Klaus confront Marcel and his gang, with Angel in Elijah's place, Spike in Klaus' place, and Vampire Robin in Marcel's place. Even the dialogue is quite similar, just changed slightly to suit these characters. And while Angel and Spike are vastly different as characters from Elijah and Klaus, Angel and Elijah are the more civil Vampires, while Spike and Klaus are a bit more violent, making Angel taking Elijah's role and Spike taking Klaus' role all the more fitting.
  • The final battle between Angel and Dark Angel is a clear reference to the final battle between Gabe and Yulow from The One.
• Small Role, Big Impact: While Ghost Rider is usually a background character in most of the stories, in Avengers, Slayer, Devil and Stones, its his meeting with Matt that is the catalyst for Thanos' snap being undone.
• Spared by the Adaptation: With the exception of Joyce Summers and Darla, pretty much every main or recurring character survives their canonical deaths from Buffy Season 5/Angel Season 2 onwards.
  • Warren is arrested in his first appearance so Tara is safe, other than when she temporarily becomes a victim of Thanos' snap.
  • Another example is Buffy herself. As while she was resurrected later, here, Strange uses the Time Stone to stop Glory's portal, and so neither Buffy nor Dawn have to jump.
  • Groo is present when Angelus attacks Hyperion and fights him off, so Lilah isn't alone with Cordelia and survives.
  • Willow and Tara, along with Angel, Matt and Faith, manage to save Cordelia from Jasmine and she survives.
  • While Spike came back in Angel, here, he doesn't have to temporarily die either because Matt as the Devil Adam uses the amulet without a single scratch on him.
  • Anya Jenkins and Amanda both survive the final battle against the First Evil.
  • Strange uses the Time Stone and brings back Fred so she and Illyria share a body.
  • Wesley survives his canonical death because Faith stabs Vail from behind before he can land the killing blow.
  • Tony Stark survives the events of Endgame as Matt with his Devil Power snaps in his place, and thanks to the different means of the Infinity Stones being returned, Natasha also survives.
  • Old Man Logan from Logan as well as David Banner and also Elektra from Daredevil (2003) end up in the MCU/Buffyverse world before their canonical deaths and so they're spared.
  • X-24 ends up being cured instead of killed when Ghost Rider gives him a soul.
• Staring Down Cthulhu:
  • When Fred is infected by Illyria, Matt ends up going to Mephisto's Realm to ask him to save her. And this time, threats do not daunt him, and he turns into the Devil Adam and starts fighting Mephisto in a destructive battle.
  • The ghost of Stick does this with Illyria whenever she is around.
• Take That!: There are some references to The Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, and none of them are very kind to it, with Peter pretty much having a bad thing or two to say about the Sequel Trilogy every time its brought up. Even Angel and Spike, while arguing about which is the best Star Wars movie, agree that the Sequel Trilogy is bad.
  • Also in The Spider, The Slayer and The Key there's Edgar who is a parody of Edward Cullen.
• Took a Level in Badass:
  • Definitely Matt Murdock, due to the power of Mephisto's Devil inside of him. So now, he has gone from a street-level hero to a very overpowered character, especially when he and the Devil who gets named Adam Murdock learn to work together. Now he is able to stand alongside Heroes like Thor and Hulk, and take on opponents he'd have no business facing otherwise.
  • Also Stick as now he is back as a Friendly Ghost and coupled with the protection spell Strange put upon him, he has quite some cool ghostly tricks up his sleeve.
  • Adam from Buffy Season 4 as well once he is resurrected by Apocalypse and then made his Horseman of War, his look changed too due to his new power.
• Unstoppable Rage:
  • Matt Murdock has one whenever he is too determined to protect those he loves. Its also what leads him to turn into the Devil Adam Murdock, who is a culmination of all that rage.
  • Willow ends up having one when Thanos' snap claims Tara as a victim and she becomes Dark Willow after that to avenge her.
  • Peter Parker has it in the final story when Aunt May is killed, and so in the final battle, he pretty much unloads upon the Green Goblin.
• Villain Team-Up:
  • MODOK, Grim Reaper and their Hydra team offer a deal to Glory to split her from Ben and then she could do the ritual with the Key, as the creatures coming through the portal would provide them with an army. Ends up in complete disaster for one of the parties involved though, as the moment Glory and Ben are split, Glory slaughters the whole Hydra group.
  • Grim Reaper also teamed up with Deacon Frost and his Vampire buddies so he could get the blood of Buffy and Blade for a project.
  • Jasmine has not only Skip, but also Ikari and Maki to do her bidding this time around.
  • In the final story, Apocalypse turns Ethan Rayne, Morbius, Electro and Adam from Buffy Season 4 into his Horsemen, and later also manages to get almost all of the Universe-displaced villains to work for him.
• Wake-Up Call: Xander gets one in the final story after talking to Vampire Xander, and realizing his condition, which leads him to confront his bigotry against Demons, after which he apologizes to Angel and Spike for his treatment of them.
• Wedding Episode: This happens when Matt and Faith are to be married, and the whole chapter is about their wedding before the story returns to its usual plot.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist:
  • Like in canon, Jasmine considers herself to be one, saying her actions will unite everyone at day's end, and her followers even claim she is just trying to spread the love.
  • Apocalypse too considers himself to be this, but lacks the self-awareness to realize he is going about this in completely the wrong way, including the deaths of innocents.
• Wild Card: Adam, the Devil inside Matt, is one in his first few appearances due to not being properly aware of what's going on around him and considering everyone the enemy.

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