You're right honestly. I don't think too much about her relationship with Wesley but I should.
Angel and she have an obvious connection in terms of having done things that are wrong (though he largely as Angelus, which isn't his fault), and are trying to make up for them. But Wesley and she also have some connection, not only because of what she did to him (torture), but because she and he are both products of unloving homes (though in different ways) who find purpose in what they do, have unwavering loyalty to Angel, and do the hard things when they need to be done.
Faith is such an interesting character especially when juxtaposed to Buffy. The whole shadow self thing...Faith is what Buffy would have become if she hadn't had had a good upbringing, and family and friends. See: WishVerse Buffy.
Agreed. Whereas Kendra was sort of an idea of who Buffy might have been if she had been fully committed to slaying to the exclusion of all else, Faith is closer to who Buffy actually is, not someone raised to view social relationships as unnecessary, but someone who wants them, yet has always lacked them. The dark mirror, or shadow self, as you say. Yet, once she receives what she needs and redeems herself, I would argue that Faith is a better person than Buffy. She's certainly a better Slayer at that point (despite season seven trying to imply otherwise by sabotaging her first mission as the Potentials' leader, even though the same thing would have happened to Buffy.) Maybe that's a hot take, but that's my opinion.
Interesting! I l find high school Willow endearing, but not adult Willow. After high school, she becomes arrogant and selfish. Do you feel the same?
I
love high school Willow. She's sweet, smart, loyal, and often selfless. At the start of the series, my favorite characters were easily Xander and her. I agree that adult Willow is far less likable. And I think it's partly because she becomes more distant from Xander. They're still best friends, but the closeness they had in high school isn't there in college and beyond, at least not in the same way. Maybe it's just me, but I feel a definite shift in their relationship over time, even though they obviously still love each other. Tara is far closer to what Willow was in the first three seasons than Willow is at that point.
Another factor seems to be her deepening contact with the world of magic. The more she got into that, the more she changed, culminating in her issues in the sixth season. Even Oz saw it as a reason for concern, saying how powerful she was getting was frightening. I think she gained too much power far too fast to handle properly. No doubt his leaving also had something to do with her changing even more, but she was already on her way.
I'm not sure I've ever specifically thought about her being selfish and arrogant, in those words, but I suppose they're as apt as any. Now, I don't think that she's a bad person. I just think she picks up a lot of flaws along the way.
I think it's so interesting to hear what fans fav characters are. I'm curious, is Xander your favorite because you relate to him?
I suppose that's probably part of it. I can identify with him in a big way. He's definitely
not me, what with my propensity for reading, verbosity, and my desire to be a writer. But we have a lot in common. Nerdiness, a female best friend, humor as a defense mechanism, invisible man syndrome, etc. But I also just love the character for a lot of other reasons, such as his insightfulness, how he acts as the group's heart, his bravery despite his lack of advantages, his loyalty despite often (at least outwardly) going unappreciated, etc.
I like Tara too and of course Giles. A show with so many incredible characters it is hard to choose!
Picking favorite characters on
Buffy is like picking favorite episodes of
The X-Files or
The Next Generation. You're spoiled for choice.
That could have been so interesting!
Thanks for the validation of my writer's brain.
😉
