History WhatCouldHaveBeen / BuffyTheVampireSlayer

* According to Creator/JamesMarsters, the original idea was that Angel would become Angelus and kill Spike to have Drusilla to himself. However, Spike had become so popular with the cast, crew and fans he was instead preserved to serve as Angelus' "jealous little brother".

* Originally, Amy was going to be trapped as a rat indefinitely, but then Joss Whedon got a letter from a fan who pointed out rats only live for three years, and Amy had been in rat form for roughly three years. Amused, Joss arranged for Amy to return to human form. Amy's actor Elizabeth Anne Allen later thanked that fan for helping her return to the show.
* There was a plan for Andy Hallett to make a cameo in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E7OnceMoreWithFeeling Once More, With Feeling]]".

** There were also plans for the First to impersonate Halfrek and talk to Anya. Kali Rocha however was committed to a play and couldn't fit it in. She in fact filmed all her Season 7 scenes in just one day; the death scene in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E5Selfless Selfless]]" was filmed in front of a green screen.

* There was talk about bringing Tara BackFromTheDead. At some point in the season, Buffy would get access to one wish that could alter reality. She would consider a number of options, including restoring Angel's humanity, destroying the First, or bringing her mother back. Eventually she would return to Casa de Scooby to show her cute new shoes off to Willow...

* At the height of its popularity, an AnimatedAdaptation was considered. They had got the designs down and even made [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnUvZP7-5LM a promo]]. But the network it was pitched to, Creator/FoxKids, ended in 2002 (to be replaced by the [=4Kids=]-operated "Fox Box"), and no other network was willing to buy it, leading to the project's scrapping. It did get a nod in the season 8 comic.

* Wesley was originally going to be an American Watcher.

* ''Creator/GailSimone'' was invited to write a season for the series, but was under exclusive contract with DC Comics, and declined.

* Dawn was originally intended to have the power to speak to the dead. She was also supposed to be able to move objects with her mind. These powers were later dropped.

* Many characters stayed on longer than anticipated. Both Jenny Calendar and Joyce Summers (Buffy's mom) were supposed to die in the ''first season'', but Jenny survived until Season 2, and Joyce until Season 5. Jenny only died because the fan response to Oz was so positive, otherwise ''he'' would have been the one killed by Angelus. And had he not left, Oz would have died instead of Tara, triggering her Dark Willow phase. Mayor Wilkins was only set for 2 episodes. Anya was to only appear in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E9TheWish}} The Wish]]", and after that was only supposed to appear once again in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E16Doppelgangland}} Doppelgangland]]". Faith was originally signed on for only 5 episodes. Spike was to die at the end of "What's My Line?" but it was decided against. Spike was thus planned to exit the show after his one Season 3 appearance, but was [[BreakoutCharacter brought on as a regular]] in Season 4 instead.

* Ms. Calendar was originally written as 'Nikki' instead, but they changed it to Jenny to avoid confusion with Nicholas Brendon (who was called Nicky by everyone on set). This was apparently no longer an issue by the time they wrote in the character of Nikki Wood.
* Darla was originally supposed to be killed in the end of "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS1E2TheHarvest}} The Harvest]]" when Willow hurled holy water at her, but a more interesting plot for "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS1E7Angel}} Angel]]" was needed so they kept her in the show.

* In the original script for "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E14Innocence}} Innocence]]" Buffy didn't have a bazooka. She had a [[TankGoodness tank]]!.
* "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E18KilledByDeath}} Killed By Death]]" was originally rather different: it involved some sort of hybrid senior home/orphanage, and it would seem like the kids were evil, except actually the seniors were, worshiping some kind of panther god or something.

* The Glove of Myhnegon from "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E7Revelations}} Revelations]]" was originally supposed to be a falconer's glove that summoned some sort of demonic bird; Gwendolyn Post would try to control it, but it would kill her instead. Apparently the budget would have only allowed the bird to appear for about 30 seconds, and it became a joke around the studio that this particular script was unfilmable. Hence the change to a simpler ShockAndAwe power.

* A more well known WCHB deals with Faith kissing Buffy on the forehead in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E17Enemies}} Enemies]]". [[http://www.buffyworld.com/buffy/scripts/051_scri.html The original script had Faith kissing her full on the lips.]] FoeYay going all the way.
* Whedon intended for a while to kill Joyce at the end of Season 3, and by the time he changed his mind Kristine Sutherland had booked several other jobs for the following year, which is why she appears so little in Season 4.

* Kristine Sutherland revealed Joss' initial plans for the Summers family, at the beginning of season four:

* In "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E1TheFreshman}} The Freshman]]", antagonist Sunday was originally going to be a Slayer who had been turned into a vampire, explaining how she was able to nearly effortlessly defeat Buffy the first time they fought. Instead, she simply became an unusually savvy and powerful vampire. After huge amounts of fan speculation on the idea, a vampirised Slayer finally did appear in the "Season Nine" comics.

* At one point, Joss wanted Sunnydale to sink into the earth in Season 5. This happened in Season 7 instead.

* Tucker Wells (from "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E20TheProm}} The Prom]]") was going to be the leader of the Trio in Season 6, and the interim BigBad until he killed Tara and Dark Willow then killed him. This would have made particular sense, since in his one appearance he was rather callous about killing people and even darker than Warren (who was originally a weak-willed, somewhat amoral nerd with some HiddenDepths). Jonathan would've been the same pretty much, but Warren was going to be the passive follower (this suggests that Andrew's arc in Season 7 might have ended up being his). Since Brad Kane, Tucker's actor was unavailable to reprise the role, Warren was upped to BigBad via JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope & WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity, and Andrew was created to serve the weak-willed-follower role (as Tucker's brother who caused a chaotic incident absolutely nobody seems to remember).
* Originally, Amy was going to be trapped as a rat indefinitely, but then Joss Whedon got a letter from a fan who pointed out rats only live for 3 years, and Amy had been in rat form for roughly three years. Amused, Joss arranged for Amy to return to human form. Amy's actor Elizabeth Anne Allen later thanked that fan for helping her return to the show.
* In "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E9Smashed}} Smashed]]", Willow and Amy get harassed by two homophobic men, and punish them by using magic to strip them to their underwear and make them dance in cages. In the original plans, they would have used magic to force the two men to kiss each other. Joss Whedon vetoed the idea because he did not want to portray people's sexual orientation as changing in an instant and he did not want to portray same-sex kissing as a punishment.
* In "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E22Grave}} Grave]]", Buffy would have fought the dragon that escaped in "The Gift". It was changed to earth monsters because of the budget.
* There was a plan for Andy Hallett to make a cameo in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E7OnceMoreWithFeeling}} Once More, With Feeling]]".
* "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E17NormalAgain}} Normal Again]]" was originally more of a RageAgainstTheAuthor episode, with the world of Sunnydale crumbling due to Joss Whedon suffering writers block.

* Another sequence for "Conversations with Dead People" would be for Jesse to confront Xander. Eric Balfour was unavailable however, and as a result, it's the only episode of the series that Xander doesn't appear in.

* Xander could, once again, have been killed by Caleb instead of mutilated in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E18DirtyGirls}} Dirty Girls]]" so that the First would appear as him from then on, but the writers decided the rest of the characters [[AngstWhatAngst would have insufficient grieving time.]]

* Whedon wanted to put Eric Balfour [[DeadStarWalking in the opening credits]] for the first two episodes so that his death would be a surprise, but literally didn't have the money for two sets of credits.

** [[https://www.cbr.com/buffy-season-finale-dawn-death/ Dawn was supposed to have sacrificed herself in Buffy's place]].

* Whedon discussed with Nicholas Brendon and Sarah Michelle Gellar the idea of Buffy and Xander ending up together at the end of the final season, which the actors reportedly agreed. Gellar has stated she believes Whedon's original intention was "was to put Xander and Buffy together. I really do believe that."

* There was talk about bringing Tara BackFromTheDead in Season 7. At some point in the season, Buffy would get access to one wish that could alter reality. She would consider a number of options, including restoring Angel's humanity. Eventually she would return to Casa de Scooby to show her cute new shoes off to Willow...

** A shooting script for the Tara version of CWDP did the internet rounds back in the day, with truly heartbreaking Willow-First!Tara dialogue (Willow with Tara but unable to touch her -- think about it).

* The finale was planned to be a two-hour event, but the network only allowed them one episode.
* There are a few alternative scripts for the finale with many differences, including: Xander dying to save Dawn, Anya living to see the end and Dawn being the third Slayer.

* Jane Espenson has said that back when the series was nearing its end, "I think Marti talked with Joss about ''Slayer School'', I assume there was some back-and-forth pitching."

* Kristine Sutherland revealed Joss’s initial plans for the Summers family, at the beginning of season four:

* There were also plans for the First to impersonate Halfrek and talk to Anya. Kali Rocha however was committed to a play and couldn't fit it in. She in fact filmed all her Season 7 scenes in just one day; the death scene in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E5Selfless Selfless]]" was filmed in front of a green screen.

* In the fifth season they considered revealing that Xander and not Ben was actually Glory's alter ego -- presumably that would have involved Glory's memory glitch spell affecting the ''audience'' all this time -- and having him killed off at the end of the season.

** They could not get Creator/AmberBenson's schedule to work with the plot, though, so it was scrapped. There was also talk of bringing Amber Benson back as one of the manifestations of the First Evil, but she refused because it would be too cruel to Willow's character and the fans. (There is, in fact, a script for "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E7ConversationsWithDeadPeople}} Conversations With Dead People]]" that has Tara in place of Cassie talking to Willow, and it's exactly as cruel as you would expect.) The echoes of that plot could be felt in "Conversations With Dead People", which had Cassie appear and claim to be speaking for Tara.

* The season was supposed to end with Dawn willingly sacrificing herself in place of Buffy.

* Rumors exist of a crossover idea for "The Gift" with Team Angel coming to help.

* The Oz-Veruca storyline in season four was supposed to last longer, but had to be cut short. Creator/SethGreen had been cast in a film whose production was suddenly pushed forward, requiring him to be written out sooner.

* The last scene of "Beneath You" was originally Spike admitting actual guilt for the bad he's done and how selfish he was, instead of more complaining about how Buffy used him. A lot of fans would have preferred the former, but Angel Season 5 included elements of that.

* There were also plans for the First to impersonate Halfrek and talk to Anya. Kali Rocha however was committed to a play and couldn't fit it in. She in fact filmed all her Season 7 scenes in just one day; the death scene in "Selfless" was filmed in front of a green screen.

* Tim Minear was behind an idea for a spinoff in 2003 featuring Faith. He pitched as "Faith meets ''Series/KungFu''" and it would have seen her WalkingTheEarth on her motorcycle trying to find her place in the world and that Spike would appear. This was abandoned when Creator/ElizaDushku starred in ''Series/TruCalling'' and Spike joined the last season of ''Angel''. Ideas intended for the spin-off were later borrowed in small part by Brian K. Vaughan for his "No Future for You" arc in the Season Eight comics.

* In "Conversations With Dead People", they considered having the First appear to Anya as Halfrek, or to Xander as Jesse.

* At the height of its popularity, an AnimatedAdaptation was considered. They had got the designs down and even made [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnUvZP7-5LM a promo]]. But no network was willing to buy it and it wound up dropped in the end. Though it did get a nod in the season 8 comic.

* From the very beginning, Joss Whedon planned to reveal that one of the main characters was gay. However, until Season 4 he had not decided as to whether this would be Willow or Xander, and subtle clues (''extremely'' subtle) were placed for both characters in case his plans were able to see light. Ultimately, he decided to pick Willow instead of Xander.
** Presumably this doesn't include wish-universe vampire Willow, who was ''not'' subtle.

* Xander could, once again, have been killed by Caleb instead of mutilated in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E18DirtyGirls}} Dirty Girls]]" so that the First would appear as him from then on, but decided the rest of the characters [[AngstWhatAngst would have insufficient grieving time.]]

* Tim Minear was behind an idea for a spinoff in 2003 featuring Faith. He pitched as "Faith meets ''Series/KungFu''" and it would have seen her WalkingTheEarth on her motorcycle trying to find her place in the world and that Spike would appear. This was abandoned when Creator/ElizaDusku starred in ''Series/TruCalling'' and Spike joined the last season of ''Angel''. Ideas intended for the spin-off were later borrowed in small part by Brian K. Vaughan for his "No Future for You" arc in the Season Eight comics.

* The entire first season was shot before the pilot had even aired, so some of the scenes were re-shot. Buffy's "it's my first day" speech to Giles was actually the ''last'' scene filmed, as they decided that Creator/SarahMichelleGellar's original performance was too aggressive.
* Angel was originally supposed to only appear in the pilot. In fact, the original unaired pilot doesn't feature him at all.
* Whedon wanted to put Eric Balfour [[DeadStarWalking in the opening credits]] for the first two episodes so that his death would be a surprise, but literally didn't have the money for two sets of credits.
* At the height of its popularity, an AnimatedAdaptation was considered. They had got the designs down and even made [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnUvZP7-5LM a promo]]. But no network was willing to buy it and it wound up dropped in the end. Though it did get a nod in the season 8 comic.
* From the very beginning, Joss Whedon planned to reveal that one of the main characters was gay. However, until Season 4 he had not decided as to whether this would be Willow or Xander, and subtle clues (''extremely'' subtle) were placed for both characters in case his plans were able to see light. Ultimately, he decided to pick Willow instead of Xander.
** Presumably this doesn't include wish-universe vampire willow, who was ''not'' subtle.

* There was talk about bringing Tara BackFromTheDead in Season 7. At some point in the season, Buffy would get access to one wish that could alter reality. She would consider a number of options, including restoring Angel's humanity. Eventually she would return to Casa de Scooby to show her cute new shoes off to Willow...
-->'''Willow:''' You used the wish on shoes?\\
'''Buffy:''' Of course not.\\
''(Buffy leaves, and Tara's standing right behind Willow...)''
** They could not get Creator/AmberBenson's schedule to work with the plot, though, so it was scrapped. There was also talk of bringing Amber Benson back as one of the manifestations of the First Evil, but she refused because it would be too cruel to Willow's character and the fans. (There is, in fact, a script for "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E7ConversationsWithDeadPeople}} Conversations With Dead People]]" that has Tara in place of Cassie talking to Willow, and it's exactly as cruel as you would expect.) The echoes of that plot could be felt in "Conversations With Dead People", which had Cassie appear and claim to be speaking for Tara.
** A shooting script for the Tara version of CWDP did the internet rounds back in the day, with truly heartbreaking Willow-First!Tara dialogue (Willow with Tara but unable to touch her -- think about it).
* The Oz-Veruca storyline in season four was supposed to last longer, but had to be cut short. Creator/SethGreen had been cast in a film whose production was suddenly pushed forward, requiring him to be written out sooner.
* There are two ways Xander could have been killed off. In the fifth season they considered revealing that he and not Ben was actually Glory's alter ego -- presumably that would have involved Glory's memory glitch spell affecting the ''audience'' all this time. They also considered having Caleb kill him in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E18DirtyGirls}} Dirty Girls]]" so that the First would appear as him from then on, but decided the rest of the characters [[AngstWhatAngst would have insufficient grieving time.]]
* At one point, Joss wanted Sunnydale to sink into the earth in Season 5. This happened in Season 7 instead.
* Wesley was originally going to be an American Watcher.
* Oz was originally supposed to wear thick rimmed glasses, much like the lead singer of Music/{{Weezer}}. This was dropped at the last minute as Whedon felt that it looked tacky.
* Many characters stayed on longer than anticipated. Both Jenny Calendar and Joyce Summers (Buffy's mom) were supposed to die in the ''first season'', but Jenny survived until Season 2, and Joyce until Season 5. Jenny only died because the fan response to Oz was so positive, otherwise ''he'' would have been the one killed by Angelus. And had he not left, Oz would have died instead of Tara, triggering her Dark Willow phase. Mayor Wilkins was only set for 2 episodes. Anya was to only appear in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E9TheWish}} The Wish]]", and after that was only supposed to appear once again in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E16Doppelgangland}} Doppelgangland]]". Faith was originally signed on for only 5 episodes. Spike was to die at the end of "What's My Line?" but it was decided against. Spike was thus planned to exit the show after his one Season 3 appearance, but was [[BreakoutCharacter brought on as a regular]] in Season 4 instead.
** Another contributing factor in Jenny dying was that Robia [=LaMorte=] became a Christian and was no longer comfortable playing the part.
** Angel was supposed to stay dead after the second season, but the WB network came to Whedon with the desire for a spin-off series, so Angel was brought back during the third season to set up his spin-off.

* In "Conversations With Dead People", they considered having the First appear to Anya as Halfrek, or to Xander as Jesse.
* Dawn was originally intended to have the power to speak to the dead. She was also supposed to be able to move objects with her mind. These powers were later dropped.

* When given their characters, Creator/JamesMarsters and Creator/JulietLandau were told they could use either a British or American accent. Marsters actually considered giving Spike a [[UsefulNotes/AmericanAccents Southern accent]], but Landau says that, given the "Sid and Nancy" vibe of their characters, Drusilla needed to be a Cockney. She admits that a Southern accent would have added interesting [[Theatre/AStreetcarNamedDesire Blanche DuBois]] comparisons, though.
* In "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E22Grave}} Grave]]", Buffy would have fought the dragon that escaped in "The Gift". It was changed to earth monsters because of the budget.
* The proposed live-action ''Ripper'' spin-off, which would have been a ''ComicBook/{{Hellblazer}}''-esque dark supernatural thriller starring Creator/AnthonyStewartHead as Giles, initially intended to be set during his [[PutOnABus bus excursion]] in the sixth season. Whedon described at as "''Series/{{Cracker}}'' with ghosts". It was reportedly intended to have been made in the UK as a co-production with Creator/TheBBC. With hindsight it appears that the Beeb were never actually very interested as at much the same time they were considering the revival of [[Series/DoctorWho their own biggest fantasy property]]. There were still occasional fan rumors of the show being made for a couple of years after ''Buffy'' ended, but Head signing up for ''Series/{{Merlin|2008}}'' probably put the final nail in the coffin.
** ''Ripper'' would have introduced Giles' eternally young great aunts Lavinia and Sophie, played by Anthony Head's daughters Emily and Daisy. They later appeared in the ''Angel & Faith'' comic series as recurring characters.
* Tim Minear was behind an idea for a spinoff in 2003 featuring Faith. He pitched as "Faith meets ''Series/KungFu''" and it would have seen her WalkingTheEarth on her motorcycle trying to find her place in the world and that Spike would appear. This was abandoned when Creator/ElizaDusku starred in ''Series/TruCalling'' and Spike joined the last season of ''Angel''. Ideas intended for the spin-off were later borrowed in small part by Brian K. Vaughan for his "No Future for You" arc in the Season Eight comics.
* Search "Buffy Unaired Pilot" on Website/YouTube to see a whole episode of ''What Could Have Beens'' answering questions like "What if Willow was fat?"
* There was a plan for Andy Hallett to make a cameo in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E7OnceMoreWithFeeling}} Once More, With Feeling]]".
** Rumors exist of a crossover idea for "The Gift" with Team Angel coming to help.
* Whedon discussed with Nicholas Brendon and Sarah Michelle Gellar the idea of Buffy and Xander ending up together at the end of the final season, which the actors reportedly agreed. Gellar has stated she believes Whedon's original intention was "was to put Xander and Buffy together. I really do believe that."
* Tucker Wells (from "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E20TheProm}} The Prom]]") was going to be the leader of the Trio in Season 6, and the interim BigBad until he killed Tara and Dark Willow then killed him. This would have made particular sense, since in his one appearance he was rather callous about killing people and even darker than Warren (who was originally a weak-willed, somewhat amoral nerd with some HiddenDepths). Jonathan would've been the same pretty much, but Warren was going to be the passive follower (this suggests that Andrew's arc in Season 7 might have ended up being his). Since Brad Kane, Tucker's actor was unavailable to reprise the role, Warren was upped to BigBad via JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope & WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity, and Andrew was created to serve the weak-willed-follower role (as Tucker's brother who caused a chaotic incident absolutely nobody seems to remember).

* Throughout Season 7, Joss had terrible trouble deciding if Principal Wood would survive the finale. He describes the result as the episode just happening to be filmed on a day where he was leaning toward Wood surviving.

* One actress who was originally offered the role as the heroine was Creator/NatashaLyonne, now the star of ''Series/OrangeIsTheNewBlack''; she turned it down, and Whedon went with Gellar.
* When the show was being pitched and the WB were interested, they considered giving it a timeslot for the 1996-97 season (which would likely have resulted in a full 22-episode season 1); it lost this battle to ''Series/SeventhHeaven'', becoming a MidSeasonReplacement when ''Series/{{Savannah}}'' was cancelled in early 1997. In hindsight, had the WB execs. chosen differently both shows would likely have turned out different - among other things, Creator/AlysonHannigan had not yet been cast; the Master arc would also have been effected, with an extra 10 episodes and the possibility of the Annointed One not being pre-emptively killed off; etc.
* Darla was originally supposed to be killed in the end of "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS1E2TheHarvest}} The Harvest]]" when Willow hurled holy water at her, but a more interesting plot for "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS1E7Angel}} Angel]]" was needed so they kept her in the show.
* Creator/JamesMarsters originally auditioned for the role of Spike using a [[CorruptHick Texan accent]] for the character. He and the writers eventually decided that this was not a good fit, and so instead of a cowboy, Spike became a limey. Spike actually uses this Texan accent in Season #4 when he's attempting to convince people that he's an old friend of Xander's. It's hilarious.
** "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E17NormalAgain}} Normal Again]]" was originally more of a RageAgainstTheAuthor episode, with the world of Sunnydale crumbling due to Joss Whedon suffering writers block.
* In the original script for "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E14Innocence}} Innocence]]" Buffy didn't have a bazooka. She had a [[TankGoodness tank]]!.
* Amongst those who auditioned for Buffy were Creator/KatieHolmes and Creator/SelmaBlair.
* Creator/RyanReynolds was originally offered the role of Xander. He passed on it because of his own awful high school experiences. "I love that show and I loved Creator/JossWhedon," Reynolds told 'The Toronto Star' in 2008. "But my biggest concern was that I didn't want to play a guy in high school."
* Angel was originally conceived as nothing more than a weird guy who occasionally showed up to give Buffy vague advice. There were several ideas for his true identity tossed around, including that he was an actual angel who needed to complete a certain number of good deeds before being allowed back into Heaven, before his being a vampire was decided on literally while writing the episode with the reveal. This explains the severe EarlyInstallmentWeirdness with him until that point, as he had to be written very vaguely to fit whatever the writers came up with.
* A more well known WCHB deals with Faith kissing Buffy on the forehead in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E17Enemies}} Enemies]]". [[http://www.buffyworld.com/buffy/scripts/051_scri.html The original script had Faith kissing her full on the lips.]] FoeYay going all the way.
* Whedon intended for a while to kill Joyce at the end of Season 3, and by the time he changed his mind Kristine Sutherland had booked several other jobs for the following year, which is why she appears so little in Season 4.

* "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E18KilledByDeath}} Killed By Death]]" was originally rather different: it involved some sort of hybrid senior home/orphanage, and it would seem like the kids were evil, except actually the seniors were, worshiping some kind of panther god or something.
* The Glove of Myhnegon from "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E7Revelations}} Revelations]]" was originally supposed to be a falconer's glove that summoned some sort of demonic bird; Gwendolyn Post would try to control it, but it would kill her instead. Apparently the budget would have only allowed the bird to appear for about 30 seconds, and it became a joke around the studio that this particular script was unfilmable. Hence the change to a simpler ShockAndAwe power.
* At one point Joss toyed with the idea of putting vampires in out-of-style clothing, to show they were mentally still stuck in the time they died in. This would have been an interesting contrast to a fashion-conscious teenage hero, but Whedon soon realized it would be impractical in the long run. Buffy still picks a single vampire out in a crowd due to his outdated fashion sense in one early episode.
* ''Creator/GailSimone'' was invited to write a season for the series, but was under exclusive contract with DC Comics, and declined.
* Whedon was interested in a film continuation in 1998.

* In "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E1TheFreshman}} The Freshman]]", antagonist Sunday was originally going to be a Slayer who had been turned into a vampire, explaining how she was able to nearly effortlessly defeat Buffy the first time they fought. Instead, she simply became an unusually savvy and powerful vampire.

* Creator/SarahMichelleGellar or Creator/BiancaLawson (Kendra) could have been cast as Cordelia, which was the role they originally auditioned for. Both Creator/CharismaCarpenter and Creator/ElizabethAnneAllen originally auditioned for Buffy. Sarah and Charisma's roles were switched, and the character of Amy was created for Elizabeth.
** When Bianca Lawson actually won the role initially, she opted instead to take a role in the sitcom ''Goode Behavior'' instead. Producers liked her so much that she was introduced on the second season as Kendra.
* Similarly, Creator/DannyStrong auditioned for ''Xander'' originally. He didn't get the part, obviously, but was later given the role of Jonathan, and his talent at portraying a hapless dupe of a SpearCarrier with HiddenDepths led to his becoming a recurring, popular character. What would have happened if he, not Nicholas Brendan, had won the role of Xander?

* K. Todd Freeman was in the running for the role of Spike before being cast as Mr. Trick.

* Creator/NathanFillion auditioned for the role of Angel. He did play Caleb in the final season.