List of Buffy the Vampire Slayer characters

This article lists the major and recurring fictional characters created by Joss Whedon for the television series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. For detailed descriptions, see individual character pages.

Main characters

The following characters were featured in the opening credits of the program.

Actor Character Count Seasons
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Sarah Michelle Gellar Buffy Summers 144 Main
Nicholas Brendon Xander Harris 143 Main
Alyson Hannigan Willow Rosenberg 144 Main
Anthony Stewart Head Rupert Giles 121 Main Recurring
Charisma Carpenter Cordelia Chase 54 Main
David Boreanaz Angel 57 Recurring Main Guest Guest
Seth Green Daniel "Oz" Osbourne 39 Recurring Main[note 1]
James Marsters Spike 96 Recurring Guest Main[note 2]
Marc Blucas Riley Finn 31 Main[note 3] Guest
Emma Caulfield Anya Jenkins 81 Recurring Main
Michelle Trachtenberg Dawn Summers 66 Main[note 4]
Amber Benson Tara Maclay 47 Recurring Main[note 5]
Note
  1. Seth Green is in the main cast of the first six episodes of Season Four, departing in "Wild at Heart" before making two guest appearances later in the season.
  2. James Marsters makes two guest appearances in the fourth season before joining the main cast in episode 7, "The Initiative".
  3. Marc Blucas appears in eight episodes before joining the main cast in "Doomed", episode 11 of the fourth season. He departs in "Into the Woods", episode 10 of the fifth season, and appears as a guest in "As You Were", season 6 episode 14.
  4. Michelle Trachtenberg makes a guest appearance in episode 1, "Buffy vs. Dracula" of Season Five before immediately being upgraded to a regular in episode 2, "Real Me".
  5. Amber Benson is recurring until "Seeing Red", episode 19 of season 6, the only episode for which she is credited in the main cast.

The show's titular protagonist, Buffy is "The Slayer", one in a long line of young girls chosen by fate to battle evil forces in the form of vampires and demons. The Slayer has no jurisdiction over human crime. This calling mystically endows her with a limited degree of clairvoyance, usually in the form of prophetic dreams, as well as dramatically increased physical strength, endurance, agility, intuition, and speed and ease of healing. There traditionally has been only one Slayer alive at any given moment, with a new one called upon the event of her death.

Xander is a close friend of Buffy. Possessing no supernatural skills, Xander provides comic relief as well as a grounded, everyman perspective in the supernatural Buffyverse. In another departure from the usual conventions of television, Xander is notable for being an insecure and subordinate male in a world dominated by powerful females.

Willow was originally a nerdy girl who contrasted Buffy's cheerleader personality but also shared the social isolation Buffy suffered after becoming a Slayer. As the series progressed, Willow became a more assertive and even sensual character; in particular, she realized that she was a lesbian and became a powerful Wiccan. Willow is Buffy's best friend through everything that happens and maintains her humanity and kindness to others throughout.

Giles, rarely referred to by his first name, is a Watcher and a member of the Watchers' Council, whose job is to train Slayers. In the earlier seasons, Giles researched the supernatural creatures that Buffy must face, offered insights into their origins and advice on how to kill them. Throughout the series, he became a father-figure to Buffy, Willow, Xander, and the others, giving them advice not only on the supernatural world, but on life issues as well.

Tom Lenk, Emma Caulfield, Alexis Denisof, Alyson Hannigan, Anthony Stewart Head, Joss Whedon, Michelle Trachtenberg

Cordelia is originally an archetypal popular, shallow, mean-spirited cheerleader. She is tactless, but direct and honest, and she becomes a reluctant ally of the Scooby Gang, even after her relationship with Xander disintegrates. After season 3, she joins Angel in L.A., where she abandons her attempts at acting to fight evil at his side.

Angel, a vampire, formerly known as Angelus, was a cruel killer until he was re-ensouled by a Romani curse. After decades of guilt over his past atrocities, he allies himself with Buffy and they fall in love. The consummation of their relationship brings him a moment of true happiness, breaking the curse and releasing Angelus upon Sunnydale. Buffy is forced to send him to a hell dimension to save the world. After his release from hell, Buffy and Angel continue to struggle with their ongoing love. Angel breaks off their relationship and moves to L.A. (after season 3) to give her a chance at a more normal life. There, he gathers new allies in his own fight against evil in the five-season spin-off, Angel.

Oz is a brilliant (yet generally unmotivated) student, and part-time rock guitarist. He is Willow's first and only boyfriend, and an active member of Buffy's inner circle, despite the fact that he has recently become a werewolf. Portrayed as taciturn and unflappable, the contrast between his outward coolness and his violent animal episodes is an example of the show's efforts to subvert usual character expectations, as well as to display double-personalities (like Angel/Angelus). As an unusual side-note, the actor Seth Green went on to co-design and supervise the creation of the acclaimed line of Buffy the Vampire Slayer action figures.

Spike is a vampire character whose role varies dramatically through the course of the series, ranging from a major villain to "love's bitch", to the sarcastic comic relief, to Buffy's romantic interest in a relationship that grows from miserable lust to a friendship, and eventually to a self-sacrificing hero, dying as a Champion at the Hellmouth. His path to redemption subsequently resumes in L.A. (in season five of Angel), where his resurrected character continues to develop into a selfless hero and reconciles with his former nemesis and love rival, Angel, and occasionally works with him. Spike is known for his Billy Idol platinum hair, his catch-phrase "bloody hell", and his black leather duster, which he acquired after killing his second Slayer.

Anya is a 1,120-year-old former vengeance demon (Anyanka) who specialized in avenging scorned women. After being forcibly stripped of her demonic powers by Giles, the character is forced to re-learn how to be an ordinary human, a journey which is portrayed as both comical (e.g., her fear of rabbits and her love of money) and poignant (e.g. her grief over Joyce's death). Her story is largely focused on her romantic relationship with Xander, and like many characters on the show, she is portrayed as morally ambivalent.

Riley is Buffy's first serious boyfriend after Angel. He is initially an operative in a military organization called "The Initiative" that uses science and military technology to hunt down HSTs or "hostile sub-terrestrials" (demons). Riley is Angel's opposite, an Iowa-born-and-raised man whose strength lies in his military secret identity. Buffy's superior physical strength causes him insecurity, particularly after his medically enhanced powers were removed. This, combined with Buffy's inability to truly emotionally connect with him, eventually causes him to leave in the middle of Season 5.

Dawn is introduced in Season 5 as Buffy's fourteen-year-old younger sister, sent to Buffy in human form as a disguise for the Key, a dangerous magical artifact sought by a hellgod. Although Dawn's genesis is magical, she functions as a complete and normal teenage girl, and, after her true nature has been revealed, she is accepted and loved as a sister, daughter, and friend. Although Buffy initially tries to shelter Dawn from her work as Slayer, Dawn later becomes a useful member of the Scooby Gang.

Tara is introduced first as a fellow member of a Wicca group during Willow's first year of college. Their close friendship evolves into an ongoing romantic relationship; their relationship attracted significant attention as one of few featured same-sex relationships on television at that time. Tara uses her magical skills to assist the Scooby Gang in their fight against evil, and she struggles with how to deal with Willow's growing addiction to magic. Tara is killed by a bullet intended for Buffy, her death triggering Willow's transformation into "Dark Willow".

Recurring characters by type

Villains

Allies

Jenny Calendar was the first prominent character to be killed in the series, and Joss Whedon noted the significance of this as a sign of his seriousness about emphasizing the genuine danger his characters are in. She returns in season 3, but as the First Evil, who has assumed her form.

Others

Recurring characters by season

Actor Character Count Seasons
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Kristine Sutherland Joyce Summers 58 Recurring Guest
Elizabeth Anne Allen Amy Madison 8 Guest Recurring Guest
Mercedes McNab Harmony Kendall 15 Guest Recurring
Armin Shimerman Principal Snyder 19 Recurring Guest
Mark Metcalf The Master 8 Recurring Guest Guest
Robia LaMorte Jenny Calendar 14 Recurring Guest
Andrew J. Ferchland The Anointed One 6 Recurring
Julie Benz Darla 5 Recurring Guest Guest
Dean Butler Hank Summers 4 Guest Guest
Eric Balfour Jesse McNally 2 Guest
Danny Strong Jonathan Levinson 28 Recurring Guest Recurring Guest
Robin Sachs Ethan Rayne 4 Guest
Jason Hall Devon MacLeish 8 Guest
Saverio Guerra Willy the Snitch 5 Guest
Larry Bagby Larry Blaisdell 7 Guest Recurring
Julia Lee Anne Steele 2 Guest
Juliet Landau Drusilla 17 Recurring Guest Guest
Bianca Lawson Kendra 4 Recurring
Eliza Dushku Faith 20 Recurring Guest Recurring
Andy Umberger D'Hoffryn 4 Guest Guest
Harry Groener Mayor 14 Recurring Guest Guest
Harris Yulin Quentin Travers 3 Guest Guest Guest
K. Todd Freeman Mr Trick 5 Recurring
Alexis Denisof Wesley Wyndam-Pryce 9 Recurring
Sharon Ferguson First Slayer 4 Guest Guest
Bailey Chase Graham Miller 13 Recurring
George Hertzberg Adam 10 Recurring Guest
Phina Oruche Olivia 3 Recurring
Adam Kaufman Parker Abrams 4 Recurring
Paige Moss Veruca 3 Recurring
Lindsay Crouse Maggie Walsh 9 Recurring
Leonard Roberts Forrest Gates 12 Recurring
Kali Rocha Halfrek 7 Guest Recurring Guest
Adam Busch Warren Mears 16 Guest Recurring Guest
Amelinda Embry Katrina Silber 3 Guest
Clare Kramer Glory 13 Recurring Guest
K.D. Aubert Nikki Wood 2 Guest Guest
Charlie Weber Ben 14 Recurring
Joel Grey Doc 3 Recurring
Tom Lenk Andrew Wells 26 Recurring
James Charles Leary Clem 8 Recurring
D. B. Woodside Robin Wood 14 Recurring
Azura Skye Cassie Newton 2 Guest
Sarah Hagan Amanda 9 Recurring
Kristy Wu Chao-Ahn 4 Recurring
Iyari Limon Kennedy 13 Recurring
Clara Bryant Molly 5 Recurring
Indigo Rona 8 Recurring
Felicia Day Vi 8 Recurring
Mary Wilcher Shannon 3 Recurring
Dania Ramirez Carodad 3 Recurring
Lalaine Chloe 2 Recurring
Nathan Fillion Caleb 5 Recurring

Notable recurring characters, credited as guest stars, are listed by the season in which they first appeared.

Season 1 (1997)

Season 2 (1997–1998)

Season 3 (1998–1999)

Season 4 (1999–2000)

Season 5 (2000–2001)

Season 6 (2001–2002)

Season 7 (2002–2003)

Minor characters

Notable villains

The following characters are commonly referred to within the show as Big Bads, usually the principal antagonist for a season, though some seasons have multiple Big Bads.

The sixth season documentaries often refer to not only Dark Willow as the season's Big Bad, but life itself.

See also

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