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Sunday, June 12, 2011

Buffy, Faith and Willow (Awesome Women)


One of my favourite ever shows is Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I watched it from the very first episode and was instantly hooked. Before that, I'd even loved the (admittedly terrible) movie. But something about the whole atmosphere of Sunnydale, the characters - from Buffy herself, Willow, Xander and Cordelia just grabbed me instantly. I love the dialogue and the action and especially the romance between Buffy and Angel.

I thought today would be a good day to share with you my favourite Buffy characters.


Buffy - When I recently did another Awesome Women post about another favourite female television character (Sidney Bristow from Alias) I had quite a few of you pipe up saying that Buffy was your favourite kick-ass character. I'll have you know that she's also one of mine!

I love her cheesy one-liners and her sarcastic sense of humour. She's little and blonde and is easily believeable as a flighty cheerleader. Instead, she's a Vampire Slayer and a pretty kick-ass one at that. She's been chosen as the one person who stands in the way of evil. Instead of acting alone, Buffy surrounds herself with loyal friends and tackles monsters, vampires and evil-doings together as a team. I love how strong she is and how much she sacrifices for the good of others.


Faith - Faith is a very interesting character. A second slayer, but one very different to Buffy. Faith has had less support in her life and eventually she goes down the path of villian. But what I love most about the show is that that line between good and evil is so often blurred and confusing. Because while Faith starts off as being this wild and care-free person, she's also a bit of an outsider looking in on Buffy's circle of friends and family.

When Faith goes too far and kills a man, things begin to really unravel. Despite the efforts of the Scooby Gang and in particular, Angel, Faith begins to start healing and moving in the direction of owning up to her actions, when she's captured by the Council. Faith turns to Mayor Wilkins and goes 'rogue.' Lots of fighting and bad stuff happens, but then, in the Angel spin-off, we see Faith's redemptive side as she struggles so hard in order to make up for the things she has done. Finally, she goes back to Sunnydale and fights together with Buffy against the Big Bad.


Willow - Right from the start, Willow has been one of my favourite characters. Especially in the early seasons when she was quite shy and wall-flowery and not very assertive, I could really aspects of myself in her character. Quite bookish and clearly nerdy, I love that she is such a huge character in the show and during the course of it, transformed into somebody a lot more confident and powerful.

I really loved watching Willow's transformation. From mostly doing research and using her computer skills in order to help, Willow takes on an interest in spells and witchcraft, which she develops more in college. After a great deal of magic and witchcraft is used in order to fight against evil, Willow becomes addicted to using magic. This culminates in Dark Willow threatening to destroy the world after the loss of her girlfriend, Tara. I love that it ultimately took Xander's friendship in order to bring Willow back from the edge.


How much do you love the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Who is your favourite character?

18 comments:

  1. Wonderful post! Thank you so much for this - I loved every word of it and I totally agree with you. This show is full of awesome female characters. I think the warm-hearted Tara is a favourite of mine, in addition to the three you've described. Oh, and Joyce, Buffy's mum, too. And so many more... :)

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  2. I love Buffy so much (though I have to admit I don't always love her), it's one of my favourite programmes. Reading this makes me want to start a rewatch!

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  3. I never watched Buffy on TV but my sister has the whole DVD collection so I borrowed them and couldn't stop watching them (I have yet to borrow her Angel collection). I think Willow is my favourite female charcacter but to be honest they are all great!

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  4. I love this show! The writing is superb and the cast is perfect. I think it does a good job of painting women as strong and capable. My favorite character is Willow for many of the reasons you have. I definitely most identified with her early on. I also really like Anya (named my cat after her). She wasn't always the brightest bulb of the bunch, but she grew so much over the course of the show.

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  5. Buffy the vampire slayer was my favorite show growing up... i wanted to be here...Great post!

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  6. I can't believe I didn't mention Anya! I love Anya! :)

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  7. Luisa - Thanks! I'm always a little nervous about posting these type of things as I know so many people are die-hard, intimidating fans! :) Tara is always such a great character, though I don't think Mrs Summers really had an impact on me..

    Jenni - Oh there are so many programmes I'd like to rewatch, including this one :) I need more hours in the day!

    TLO - They ARE all great. I started watching Angel as well, but I'm never entirely sure if I've seen all of the episodes or not..

    LF - I loved Anya too, I think her transformation is massive over the course of the show!

    Mflick1 - It had such a huge impact on my teenage years, I really love the show :)

    Luisa (again!) - Everytime I think of Anya I think of the musical episode where she says 'hey, look! I'm dancing crazy!' and you'd be surprised at how often that actually does go through my head..

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  8. Totally agree with this post - Buffy is seriously my favourite TV show ever and is full of very awesome women!

    My favourite's are Willow, Tara and Anya.

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  9. I used to love Buffy but I havent watched it for years! I should re-watch em! Thanks for reminding me how awesome these characters are!

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  10. Oh how I love Buffy! I own all the seasons and never get tired of watching! I think Cordy is one of my favorites.. I love the way she tells you how it is.. I also loved her in Angel and how much she changed and grew up! I think Willow is my most favorite though. I also loved how she changed and grew through out the series.

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  11. Jesse - Seems like Willow, Tara and Anya are quite popular choices :)

    Raimy - You're welcome :)

    Becca - The only reason I didn't include Cordelia (she is definitely one of my favourites) is that her progression as a character seemed to develop more in Angel than in Buffy. And while I loved Angel, I haven't watched it nearly as much as I've watched and loved Buffy!

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  12. I used to watch Buffy all the time when it was on TV, I was obsessed! I don't know who my favourite character is, but I definitely agree with you on these three! Willow especially, I liked her from the beginning too!

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  13. Anya is possibly my favorite Buffy character of all seven seasons, but I love Buffy, Willow, and Faith a lot too. I just thought Anya was so effortlessly hilarious -- she filled the place that Cordelia had once occupied, but for some reason she felt like a better fit for the show than Cordelia ever did. (Cordelia went much better with Angel, I thought.)

    I just laughed out loud because I remembered that time Willow was telling Tara about how Faith says "Oh I'm fine! I'm five by five!" and Tara says "Five what by five what?" and Willow says "That's the thing! Nobody knows!" Bahahahhaha. That show. I love that show.

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  14. Liz - It just seems to be one of those programmes, I think :)

    Jenny - I completely agree. Anya was fantastic and did feel right for the show. And I preferred Cordy on Angel!

    I remember the bit you're talking about :) Very funny.

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  15. I watched the entire series for the first time last year and loved it! I agree that there are some great women in the show. I loved Willow's character, esp at the beginning, like you mentioned. I also thought Faith's "father figure" Mayor Wilkins, was one of the best bad guys. He was so cheerful.

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  16. Melissa - I so agree! The Mayor was a FANTASTIC bad guy. I loved the relationship between him and Faith :(

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  17. Please don't be too horrified...but I've never seen an episode of Buffy! I know, I know. :) I will soon though after this post! All these awesome characters have convinced me!

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  18. Cliona - It just means that you have SO MUCH awesome in your future to look forward to :)

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