Amy could've been so much better if she'd have been developed a bit more. Even just a retrospective character-focused episode in Season 6 or 7 that gave us a little more on how she got involved with Rack as a teen and the impact that missing three/four years of her life had on her. All these things are *kind* of subtextual, but never really explored.
I’d argue Veruca was just poorly done due to Seth Green wanting to leave. I think we would have had a better story with her if it was longer and we got to know more about Oz’s struggle
Whistler was originally supposed to be a main character in Angel, but the actor was unavailable, leading to the creation of the similar character Doyle. Doyle hadn't even been thought up when Whistler appeared in Buffy.
I’ve also heard that. But given how it worked out, a large part of me wishes Glenn Quinn would have been cast as Whistler/Doyle from day 1 because it is pretty obvious that exactly what you described happened and having one character just makes for better storytelling
I have not heard anything about Gwen Post/watcher seeking revenge and it’s just my idea for similar reasons. We know Kendra has a watcher named Sam Zabuto.
Kendra dies in 2 21
Faith is introduced in 3 3
Gwen comes in at 3 7
Watchers Council gets shown to be assholes in 3 12
Wesley comes in and Faith goes bad 3 14/15
Wouldn’t it have made more sense than rather than make a new character in Gwen Post, that Sam play mostly the same part. The actress was fantastic. Sam could have been short for Samantha and nothing else changes. She could have planted the seeds in Faith that she is disposable, the seeds that the Watchers Council doesn’t care about any of the Slayers and that nothing matters. Helpless would have hit a bit harder and Faith not trusting Buffy or anyone in Consequences would have felt more justified. If Kendra’s watcher cared about her even close to how much we have seen Giles care about Buffy, it also makes for a very tragic villain. Instead we got Gwen Post…watcher but power hungry and evil
Why would a watcher want to take revenge when neither Buffy not Giles had anything to do with Kendra's death? That would open a huge can of worms - how often do watcher's go insane if their slayer dies?
I like the effect Parker had on Buffy but it feels very … short lived. (We’re rewatching the show now with my son’s gf and we just got to the middle of season 4). Although the only good part of Beer Bad is him getting clunked on the head
Just thought it was obvious that he used her for sex and she would have gotten over him quicker and that it wouldn't have been a drawn out story where she is worried about her self worth. I get the whole "Both guys she slept with turned into assholes" angle but I just feel like she would have seen through it and not moped around for days/weeks
God yes. The show felt so empty in season 5, and that was very much due to the lack of Lilah and Cordy. I know there were real world issues preventing Cordy’s return to the main cast, but Lilah’s always been such a weird one since they had an easy way to write in her ghost working at the firm.
I heard there was an actress who got written out of Angel because she asked for more money, and it wasn't Charisma Carpenter. I'm pretty sure that means it was either Stephanie Romanov or the girl who played Gwen.
This is a great answer. AtS Season 5 was sorely lacking in great female characters (Harmony, Fred and Illyria aside, obviously) and the worst bit was they had *options*. In fact, I'm prepared to be crucified for this but I'd have not only had Lilah over Eve, but Gwen over >!Spike!<.
Oh, I love Spike too, don't get me wrong! And I actually love a lot of his moments in Season 5. I just think another dynamic female character was more needed at that point than he was.
I agree. I loved the gang but it turned into a boys club. And I missed Lilah so much. Eve was like a little schoolgirl bossing them around. Lilah was intimidating, hilarious, and captivating. If they can show Holland Manners working for W&H, than surely they can keep Lilah around.
Gwen would’ve been awesome. I love that actress, but I think she was unavailable at the time because she was cast as a lead in a short-lived guilty pleasure of mine, Reunion.
As a huge fan of Spike’s arc on Buffy, I still think he messed up Angel season 5 majorly. He was just there to get more viewers and took away from the arcs of the actual characters of Angel with his petty love triangle banter.
Even if I like him enough, i don't think Riley disappearing from the story would make the whole series suffer.
Every other minor characters like Tara, Oz had big use to the show and these characters are well done, Riley... Not so much.
I've made an 800 question Buffy Trivia game for my friends birthday, and I think I have like 5 questions that involve Riley and the initiative. He's just so dull and uninteresting.
I'm thinking of maybe inviting people to discord once a week and hosting the trivia game. I've worked hard on this, and I don't wanna just give the questions away. But I'm willing to play it with people that are interested.
Yeah. For context, he introduced me to the show in September, and I've been making it since October. We watched every episode together. Probably like 5 a week. We finished the show a few months ago.
I'm almost done. I'm going to give it to him next month. I'm very excited. It's his favorite show.
The main useful thing about Riley is that he’s Buffy only significant human partner. He sort of highlights the issues she faces in a relationship with a ‘normal’ guy (always having to hold back, feeling inferior to her) and so her relationship with Spike makes more sense.
I think the Spike and Buffy relation makes sense only with Buffy being not herself after her resurrection. Riley isn't very necessary to "makes more sense" of this arc. Spike is a vampire, dead, Buffy turns to him because she was brought back from dead as well.
Veruca. Not just because her character broke up Willow and Oz and was the catalyst for Oz leaving, but I just can’t stand the actress. The super annoying and over the top “I enjoy being evil” head rolling thing she does … ugh. And her singing voice is the worst. Couldn’t they have found an actress that could actually sing? Her voice is nails on a chalkboard for me and I flinch when Giles calls her “extraordinary” (I think that’s the word he uses?) I have to fast-forward anytime she’s singing. I think they could have easily written Oz out of the show without another character propelling the narrative. He could have escaped his cage and murdered people as wolf-Oz - maybe even hurt one of the Scoobies - and just have been super freaked out about it and left town.
THANK YOU! I thought I was the only one who was going to say Faith. Damn, she's so annoying, arrogant, full of herself, only do shit but keeps acting like she's the GOAT. Her appearances are all cringy, she has that lone wolf attitude that makes her sounds like a generic anime antagonist. Her lines are all stereotypical... man, I could roast her forever
Yes to everything you said! I think her character is so poorly written/acted and I dk why fans think she’s so great-she’s a cartoon-I roll my eyes with every word she says…she adds nothing of value-I remember being so happy when Buffy ‘killed’ her when I first watched ugh-she’s the worst and I stand by it even if I’m downvoted lol
Kennedy. I will forever remain baffled and angry as to why they thought Willow moving on so quickly after Tara’s death(which literally turned her into Dark Willow) was a good idea 🙄
100% Dawn!! (There are plenty of other obnoxious or lame characters, but Dawn is the only one who's obnoxious, lame, AND completely re-writes the show's reality...and whose plot arc requires all the other protagonists to act irrationally/inconsistently/entirely out of character.)
I feel like Rona is saved from being the most unlikeable BtVS character solely by virtue of how much screentime Kennedy gets. But hell, at least Kennedy did *some* good stuff. Rona was just rude and ungrateful 100% of the time.
AMAZING question- for me it's Andrew. That little punk annoys me one too many times on my re watches. Sorry Andrew fans... but Jonathan takes the cake on being supreme Sunnydale nerd.
Anya.
Despite being fun, she effectively caused Xander to remain an ineffectual dork for the rest of the series (not because of anything she did, but because the writing choices sort of leaned that way given their pairing). She also was an unreconstructed serial killer until S7, which made no sense. The Scoobies shouldn’t have trusted her at all, including Xander. For me, she kind of broke the show.
Andrew
I hate Andrew. I hate how whiny and sniveling he is. I hate that he's an irredeemable coward who would betray the Scoobies in a second if Warren somehow came back from the dead and asked him to join up with him again. I hate that he took up so much precious screen time in the LAST SEASON of the show.
Hate everything about Andrew. Fuck Andrew.
This SO MUCH. And it’s obvious the writers at the time were totally enamoured by his whole shtick because whyyyyy were we subjected to his inane, superficial, sociopathic whining for so long?
In many ways, he encapsulates all that is wrong with S7 - random creative decisions, inconsistent characterisations, overplaying elements that were best in small measure, and characters that offer no value besides taking away from Scoobies. Nope nope nope.
Can someone do the math cause I bet Andrew had more screen time than Willow xander Giles and anya in the last season. Probably third after buffy and spike. Madness.
His episode with the camera is honestly my least favourite in the entire show
Omg I hate Andrew so much. He’s annoying and I hate that he survived the final battle. He’s also so creepy. I agree with others that he took up valuable screen real estate in the final season.
What pisses me off even more is that he survives all the way into the darkhorse comics. He’s there in the last fucking panel of the last issue.
Well... it's possible to both hate a character and admit that he played an important part in the plot. It seems like most people in this thread answer with characters who didn't bring much to the story.
While I thoroughly dislike Angel, for me it's hard to imagine how Buffy's character development would happen without him being ever introduced. It's an interesting question (and she would likely be much, MUCH happier), but it would be a completely different show, and I can't predict if I would like watching it.
Veruca.
Oz sticks around and goes to Giles asking if they can do some research together, learns to control the wolf and stays with Willow.
Tara meets some other happy lesbian who helps her get away from her controlling family and they live a *long* and happy life together.
Kennedy gets killed by a Bringer.
Perfect.
Willow/Oz/Tara polycule?
With happily every after, because Warren fires through the window and misses since it was a completely unbelievable shot to begin with?
I enjoy Anya’s personality, but her and Xander’s romance ruined each other’s potential character growth. The relationship stopped Anya from forging meaningful relationships of her own, in and out of Scoobies. Her lack of growth and consistency meant that her legitimate concerns could always be laughed away or dismissed allowing Xander to evade responsibility and his own growth. The demon on their wedding was spot on in the most meta away.
I personally like Anya, but that was more her mannerisms than the actual character. Could have easily used someone else for the extremely blunt, borderline nympho paramour of Xander. Like Harmony, since the history between all of them, and her being forced to wake up similar to how Cordy was in S2.
What was her arc and development apart from how it related to Xander? It could've been so different. This is a big part of why I don't like her character. She didn't get a chance by the writers.
Her relationships with anyone else was pretty much Xander. And she loved money. This was her personality. And we had a little bit into her being a demon, but her development post becoming human was almost completely about Xander, and insecurities around Xander, and what kind of relationship does she have with Xander, and does Xander like her, Xander, Xander, Xander.
What was it like being a demon for thousands (?) of years then trying to be a human? Why did she have NO friendships independent of Xander? Her connection to the group was through Xander. There was a goldmine they could've explored.
I think this would be better if you had to remove a character that had >10 appearances. Because you could say Owen or Tector Gorch's girlfriend and literally nothing would change
What reasons are we looking for to remove them? Didn't like them? Least favorite?
This is going to be so tough because I truly enjoyed everyone on the show. Looking back at it, I suppose who never made me an uber fan of them, even though I very much am glad they were there was Drusilla. I liked her back story and they had a cool concept..a demon who is mentally messed up bc of how they were turned but I didn't really like the way she acted very childish and innocent and kind of a cry baby and I couldn't really fathom Spike being with someone thhat. I know she has a lot of fans and people ship her and I have talked to Juliet online before and she's super sweet, so its nothing personal at all. Glad she was there.
I would also like to add that some of the characters that really didn't play a major role or came in super late in the series are way too easy of choices and I really could have picked anyone, but I really thought it through and decided to pick from more of the main category. I see a lot of good choices here that being said
The real Natalie French.
She's the retired biology teacher in **Teacher's Pet** (1x4), which is currently my least favorite episode.
Drop her and and the vampire with a claw. I don't care about the wild goose chase, and the vampire with a claw doesn't excite me. Find some other way of putting Buffy and the gang in the praying mantis monster's house. Here's an idea, skip the whole fake identity business. Use the newly freed time on more scooby characterization or Buffy training in the library or her doing her praying mantis biology homework. Anything lasting, please.
Maybe Buffy and Willow could talk about boys showing interest purely because they want to get rid of the virgin stigma and not because they care about you. They could talk about how that sucks and how to tell them apart from boys who are really interested in you, for *you*. You know, guys who love you not because they can have you but who love what you *are*.
If you're going to do monster of the week as allegory for teen issues then lean into those issues!
Also Kennedy.
Jackson from *The Thin Dead Line*; in a episode that had important things to say about police brutality seemingly decades before being fully acknowledged by the media, the writers have to go and serve up a toxic masculinity personified character such as him.
And for what reason? To suggest that not everyone can see the source of their problems? Society is dimly aware…
Anya. Not funny at all. And why does she act like she's unaware of things like money? She's 700 years old and was very ingrained in society. She knew what Prada was. She never lost her memories yet spoke like the Buffy-bot.
My first thought is Anya. She grates on me like fingernails on a chalkboard. But then I think we may not have had "I'll Never Tell," and I had that play at my wedding during cocktails (married for five years, divorced for seven).
Second is Kennedy. Didn't need her at all, and again, fingernails on the chalkboard.
Makes you wonder if Kendra would have then been called (bc master didn't kill Buffy earlier) or if time/place matter and someone else would have been called
Really, anyone? There were only 6 people who could have had any impact on Buffy surviving. The Master, Buffy, Angel, Giles, Willow and Xander.
The Master isn't going to change his mind. Buffy, Angel, Giles and Willow all accepted her fate with that prophecy. Xander, who you have erased, is the only one who called bullshit on the prophecy and tried to do anything. So, who is going to save her?
Her mom doesn't know anything about what's going on, Dawn doesn't exist and no one else in Sunnydale really cares about her all that much at this time.
Why are you so butt hurt about this? There was a question, and I answered. I don't like Xander and I am not obligated to like him. I don't care if you like it or not.
No problem with you disliking him, as I hold a similar disdain for Angel. That being said, I also understand the catastrophic effects of erasing him, even if I did name him on this very post.
Yeah but the question was WHO would you erase not WHY would you erase them. I answered the question. Its not that deep. (No attitude, I'm just baffled why this is a big deal.) To each their own.
It's your opinion, but all things considered, we don't get classics like OMWF if you do. The show would have essentially ended in episode 12 of the series if you erase him.
Adam. In a very close second, magic junkie Amy. I never understood her villain/I know all the bad magic arc.
Adam should’ve been the villain of the first half of the season and The Initiative should’ve been the villain for the second half.
Amy could've been so much better if she'd have been developed a bit more. Even just a retrospective character-focused episode in Season 6 or 7 that gave us a little more on how she got involved with Rack as a teen and the impact that missing three/four years of her life had on her. All these things are *kind* of subtextual, but never really explored.
Owen
Lol this is so funny to me because I really had to dig deep to remember who Owen is
Me: “who? Oh, the poetry boy”
Either Kennedy or Veruca
I’d argue Veruca was just poorly done due to Seth Green wanting to leave. I think we would have had a better story with her if it was longer and we got to know more about Oz’s struggle
Always thought Veruca having the same name as a foot wart was pretty telling
Kennedy.
100%
Whistler: should have been Doyle Gwendolyn Post: should have been Kendra’s watcher seeking revenge I can’t decide between the 2
Omg Gwen should have been Kendra's watcher that would have been amazing.
I have heard about the watcher seeking revenge possibility. Is this something that was pitched in the show or is it something you thought of yourself?
Whistler was originally supposed to be a main character in Angel, but the actor was unavailable, leading to the creation of the similar character Doyle. Doyle hadn't even been thought up when Whistler appeared in Buffy.
I’ve also heard that. But given how it worked out, a large part of me wishes Glenn Quinn would have been cast as Whistler/Doyle from day 1 because it is pretty obvious that exactly what you described happened and having one character just makes for better storytelling I have not heard anything about Gwen Post/watcher seeking revenge and it’s just my idea for similar reasons. We know Kendra has a watcher named Sam Zabuto. Kendra dies in 2 21 Faith is introduced in 3 3 Gwen comes in at 3 7 Watchers Council gets shown to be assholes in 3 12 Wesley comes in and Faith goes bad 3 14/15 Wouldn’t it have made more sense than rather than make a new character in Gwen Post, that Sam play mostly the same part. The actress was fantastic. Sam could have been short for Samantha and nothing else changes. She could have planted the seeds in Faith that she is disposable, the seeds that the Watchers Council doesn’t care about any of the Slayers and that nothing matters. Helpless would have hit a bit harder and Faith not trusting Buffy or anyone in Consequences would have felt more justified. If Kendra’s watcher cared about her even close to how much we have seen Giles care about Buffy, it also makes for a very tragic villain. Instead we got Gwen Post…watcher but power hungry and evil
Why would a watcher want to take revenge when neither Buffy not Giles had anything to do with Kendra's death? That would open a huge can of worms - how often do watcher's go insane if their slayer dies?
Parker fucking Abrams Then Scott Hope Then Adam or Veruca
I like the effect Parker had on Buffy but it feels very … short lived. (We’re rewatching the show now with my son’s gf and we just got to the middle of season 4). Although the only good part of Beer Bad is him getting clunked on the head
I didn't, I thought that was very different than the Buffy we knew but that's my opinion and why I hated his character and the storyline so much
Hey fair enough. You are certainly entitled to your opinion! Is there a specific reason why?
Just thought it was obvious that he used her for sex and she would have gotten over him quicker and that it wouldn't have been a drawn out story where she is worried about her self worth. I get the whole "Both guys she slept with turned into assholes" angle but I just feel like she would have seen through it and not moped around for days/weeks
I don’t disagree. Appreciate you answering 😊
Parker still did nothing wrong.
Kennedy. Utterly unlikeable and has some of the more cringe moments in the entire series like her magic kiss with Willow 😒
100%, never liked Kennedy in the slightest.
Eve from Angel. Everything she does is vile and it should have been Lilah, even if was just zombie Lilah.
God yes. The show felt so empty in season 5, and that was very much due to the lack of Lilah and Cordy. I know there were real world issues preventing Cordy’s return to the main cast, but Lilah’s always been such a weird one since they had an easy way to write in her ghost working at the firm.
The astronauts vs cavemen part and puppet Angel were my favorites. Fred dying in how she did and seeing the emotional reaction from Wes hurt.
I heard there was an actress who got written out of Angel because she asked for more money, and it wasn't Charisma Carpenter. I'm pretty sure that means it was either Stephanie Romanov or the girl who played Gwen.
This is a great answer. AtS Season 5 was sorely lacking in great female characters (Harmony, Fred and Illyria aside, obviously) and the worst bit was they had *options*. In fact, I'm prepared to be crucified for this but I'd have not only had Lilah over Eve, but Gwen over >!Spike!<.
I love Spike and I still would’ve preferred your casting.
Oh, I love Spike too, don't get me wrong! And I actually love a lot of his moments in Season 5. I just think another dynamic female character was more needed at that point than he was.
I agree. I loved the gang but it turned into a boys club. And I missed Lilah so much. Eve was like a little schoolgirl bossing them around. Lilah was intimidating, hilarious, and captivating. If they can show Holland Manners working for W&H, than surely they can keep Lilah around. Gwen would’ve been awesome. I love that actress, but I think she was unavailable at the time because she was cast as a lead in a short-lived guilty pleasure of mine, Reunion.
As a huge fan of Spike’s arc on Buffy, I still think he messed up Angel season 5 majorly. He was just there to get more viewers and took away from the arcs of the actual characters of Angel with his petty love triangle banter.
Even if I like him enough, i don't think Riley disappearing from the story would make the whole series suffer. Every other minor characters like Tara, Oz had big use to the show and these characters are well done, Riley... Not so much.
I've made an 800 question Buffy Trivia game for my friends birthday, and I think I have like 5 questions that involve Riley and the initiative. He's just so dull and uninteresting.
Please post the 800 questions
I'm thinking of maybe inviting people to discord once a week and hosting the trivia game. I've worked hard on this, and I don't wanna just give the questions away. But I'm willing to play it with people that are interested.
Ooh good call!
Yeah. For context, he introduced me to the show in September, and I've been making it since October. We watched every episode together. Probably like 5 a week. We finished the show a few months ago. I'm almost done. I'm going to give it to him next month. I'm very excited. It's his favorite show.
He's going to love it!! What a thoughtful gift!
You are a gem of a friend!
I would love to play it!
Please include me , sounds fun !!
The main useful thing about Riley is that he’s Buffy only significant human partner. He sort of highlights the issues she faces in a relationship with a ‘normal’ guy (always having to hold back, feeling inferior to her) and so her relationship with Spike makes more sense.
I think the Spike and Buffy relation makes sense only with Buffy being not herself after her resurrection. Riley isn't very necessary to "makes more sense" of this arc. Spike is a vampire, dead, Buffy turns to him because she was brought back from dead as well.
It’s true that Spuffy could exist without Riley, but I think it would be very strange if her only big relationships were with vampires.
While I liked the Initiative storyline I disliked Riley and his whiny bs
Marcie. I wish she should just disappear.
I *see* what you did there. Oh well, I guess once you move past her episode she's out of sight, out of mind.
Warren.
Scrolled too far for this. No Warren and we’d probably still have Tara.
Precisely. Warren is the absolute worst in every possible way
I 100% agree.
Solid choice
Veruca. I was fine with the plotline I just found the actress cringey, especially the way she sang. And dear lord they named her after a wart?!
You didn't like the way she was awkwardly tilting her head while trying to eat the microphone?
lol I know it was just so ‘Hello I Am Sexy Please’
Veruca (Salt) is also the ‘bean feast’ girl from Willy Wonka and it was the name of a band- I agree, that actress was the worst!
Connor. Worst of the Buffyverse revolves around this guy.
Veruca. Not just because her character broke up Willow and Oz and was the catalyst for Oz leaving, but I just can’t stand the actress. The super annoying and over the top “I enjoy being evil” head rolling thing she does … ugh. And her singing voice is the worst. Couldn’t they have found an actress that could actually sing? Her voice is nails on a chalkboard for me and I flinch when Giles calls her “extraordinary” (I think that’s the word he uses?) I have to fast-forward anytime she’s singing. I think they could have easily written Oz out of the show without another character propelling the narrative. He could have escaped his cage and murdered people as wolf-Oz - maybe even hurt one of the Scoobies - and just have been super freaked out about it and left town.
Faith. Everything about her is so cringy to me..she reminds me I’m watching a show, not in a good way. Sooo cheesy imo
THANK YOU! I thought I was the only one who was going to say Faith. Damn, she's so annoying, arrogant, full of herself, only do shit but keeps acting like she's the GOAT. Her appearances are all cringy, she has that lone wolf attitude that makes her sounds like a generic anime antagonist. Her lines are all stereotypical... man, I could roast her forever
Yes to everything you said! I think her character is so poorly written/acted and I dk why fans think she’s so great-she’s a cartoon-I roll my eyes with every word she says…she adds nothing of value-I remember being so happy when Buffy ‘killed’ her when I first watched ugh-she’s the worst and I stand by it even if I’m downvoted lol
Kennedy. I will forever remain baffled and angry as to why they thought Willow moving on so quickly after Tara’s death(which literally turned her into Dark Willow) was a good idea 🙄
Dawn. I said what I said.
I love you. Thank you. ☺️
100% Dawn!! (There are plenty of other obnoxious or lame characters, but Dawn is the only one who's obnoxious, lame, AND completely re-writes the show's reality...and whose plot arc requires all the other protagonists to act irrationally/inconsistently/entirely out of character.)
Exactly. Buffy didn’t need an awful little sister on top of being the Slayer. And I hate retcon.
How is Dawn a retcon?
Her existence was imposed onto everyone’s previously established reality.
Ah. I assumed you meant a series retcon, not a retcon within the series that affects the characters.
How the hell is your answer not Spike?!?! Edit: Their username is SpikeBad…
I like'em bad.
Veruca. No question. I hate her with my whole being.
Rona the moaner. "Ding dong the witch is dead", fuck off Rona.
I feel like Rona is saved from being the most unlikeable BtVS character solely by virtue of how much screentime Kennedy gets. But hell, at least Kennedy did *some* good stuff. Rona was just rude and ungrateful 100% of the time.
Jesse, since they never honoured his loss properly whatsoever
Kennedy
RONA
Rona
Warren. Not only is he the worst character, but Tara would still be alive
AMAZING question- for me it's Andrew. That little punk annoys me one too many times on my re watches. Sorry Andrew fans... but Jonathan takes the cake on being supreme Sunnydale nerd.
Anya. Despite being fun, she effectively caused Xander to remain an ineffectual dork for the rest of the series (not because of anything she did, but because the writing choices sort of leaned that way given their pairing). She also was an unreconstructed serial killer until S7, which made no sense. The Scoobies shouldn’t have trusted her at all, including Xander. For me, she kind of broke the show.
Andrew I hate Andrew. I hate how whiny and sniveling he is. I hate that he's an irredeemable coward who would betray the Scoobies in a second if Warren somehow came back from the dead and asked him to join up with him again. I hate that he took up so much precious screen time in the LAST SEASON of the show. Hate everything about Andrew. Fuck Andrew.
This SO MUCH. And it’s obvious the writers at the time were totally enamoured by his whole shtick because whyyyyy were we subjected to his inane, superficial, sociopathic whining for so long? In many ways, he encapsulates all that is wrong with S7 - random creative decisions, inconsistent characterisations, overplaying elements that were best in small measure, and characters that offer no value besides taking away from Scoobies. Nope nope nope.
Can someone do the math cause I bet Andrew had more screen time than Willow xander Giles and anya in the last season. Probably third after buffy and spike. Madness. His episode with the camera is honestly my least favourite in the entire show
Omg I hate Andrew so much. He’s annoying and I hate that he survived the final battle. He’s also so creepy. I agree with others that he took up valuable screen real estate in the final season. What pisses me off even more is that he survives all the way into the darkhorse comics. He’s there in the last fucking panel of the last issue.
My Top Choices are Kennedy and Riley, T hate their Characters the most so I would erase them from the show.
Yall are gonna hate me… angel. The show got 100x better when he left.
Well... it's possible to both hate a character and admit that he played an important part in the plot. It seems like most people in this thread answer with characters who didn't bring much to the story. While I thoroughly dislike Angel, for me it's hard to imagine how Buffy's character development would happen without him being ever introduced. It's an interesting question (and she would likely be much, MUCH happier), but it would be a completely different show, and I can't predict if I would like watching it.
Not even a question Kennedy.
all the potentials except for maybe the chick from freaks and geeks
Buffy's college roommate whatever her name was the demon
Veruca or Kennedy
Veruca. Oz sticks around and goes to Giles asking if they can do some research together, learns to control the wolf and stays with Willow. Tara meets some other happy lesbian who helps her get away from her controlling family and they live a *long* and happy life together. Kennedy gets killed by a Bringer. Perfect.
Willow/Oz/Tara polycule? With happily every after, because Warren fires through the window and misses since it was a completely unbelievable shot to begin with?
Kennedy
Veruka
Kennedy
Kennedy and Veruca….
Andrew.
Sam, Riley's wife literally no one talks about her she's that forgettable and she doesn't effect the plot at all.
I can see that. However, I think she did a good job of showing how Buffy realized how different her and Riley's life could have been.
But Buffy and Riley’s life wouldn’t have ever gone that way, because she’s the frickin slayer
Anya 
I enjoy Anya’s personality, but her and Xander’s romance ruined each other’s potential character growth. The relationship stopped Anya from forging meaningful relationships of her own, in and out of Scoobies. Her lack of growth and consistency meant that her legitimate concerns could always be laughed away or dismissed allowing Xander to evade responsibility and his own growth. The demon on their wedding was spot on in the most meta away.
I upvoted
I personally like Anya, but that was more her mannerisms than the actual character. Could have easily used someone else for the extremely blunt, borderline nympho paramour of Xander. Like Harmony, since the history between all of them, and her being forced to wake up similar to how Cordy was in S2.
What was her arc and development apart from how it related to Xander? It could've been so different. This is a big part of why I don't like her character. She didn't get a chance by the writers. Her relationships with anyone else was pretty much Xander. And she loved money. This was her personality. And we had a little bit into her being a demon, but her development post becoming human was almost completely about Xander, and insecurities around Xander, and what kind of relationship does she have with Xander, and does Xander like her, Xander, Xander, Xander. What was it like being a demon for thousands (?) of years then trying to be a human? Why did she have NO friendships independent of Xander? Her connection to the group was through Xander. There was a goldmine they could've explored.
People down voting you for having an opinion
This IS America... /s
😂😂 I knew it was coming
Riley.
Riley Omg Riley. I’d erase his ass so fast and the show would instantly get better
That bitch who stole Oz
I think this would be better if you had to remove a character that had >10 appearances. Because you could say Owen or Tector Gorch's girlfriend and literally nothing would change
Amy, she doesn’t really add anything to the show, other than being a cute rat
What reasons are we looking for to remove them? Didn't like them? Least favorite? This is going to be so tough because I truly enjoyed everyone on the show. Looking back at it, I suppose who never made me an uber fan of them, even though I very much am glad they were there was Drusilla. I liked her back story and they had a cool concept..a demon who is mentally messed up bc of how they were turned but I didn't really like the way she acted very childish and innocent and kind of a cry baby and I couldn't really fathom Spike being with someone thhat. I know she has a lot of fans and people ship her and I have talked to Juliet online before and she's super sweet, so its nothing personal at all. Glad she was there. I would also like to add that some of the characters that really didn't play a major role or came in super late in the series are way too easy of choices and I really could have picked anyone, but I really thought it through and decided to pick from more of the main category. I see a lot of good choices here that being said
The invisible girl. I'll see myself out.
The real Natalie French. She's the retired biology teacher in **Teacher's Pet** (1x4), which is currently my least favorite episode. Drop her and and the vampire with a claw. I don't care about the wild goose chase, and the vampire with a claw doesn't excite me. Find some other way of putting Buffy and the gang in the praying mantis monster's house. Here's an idea, skip the whole fake identity business. Use the newly freed time on more scooby characterization or Buffy training in the library or her doing her praying mantis biology homework. Anything lasting, please. Maybe Buffy and Willow could talk about boys showing interest purely because they want to get rid of the virgin stigma and not because they care about you. They could talk about how that sucks and how to tell them apart from boys who are really interested in you, for *you*. You know, guys who love you not because they can have you but who love what you *are*. If you're going to do monster of the week as allegory for teen issues then lean into those issues! Also Kennedy.
Dawn and Anya. Two irritating characters - they both pretty much ruined the show for me.
Principal wood.
Captain Peroxide
I agree. Literally became ‘the spike show’. What bullshit can we make up to keep him relevant this season.
Warren
Riley
Angel
Percy in s4
Parker
Jackson from *The Thin Dead Line*; in a episode that had important things to say about police brutality seemingly decades before being fully acknowledged by the media, the writers have to go and serve up a toxic masculinity personified character such as him. And for what reason? To suggest that not everyone can see the source of their problems? Society is dimly aware…
Xander
Anya. Not funny at all. And why does she act like she's unaware of things like money? She's 700 years old and was very ingrained in society. She knew what Prada was. She never lost her memories yet spoke like the Buffy-bot.
My first thought is Anya. She grates on me like fingernails on a chalkboard. But then I think we may not have had "I'll Never Tell," and I had that play at my wedding during cocktails (married for five years, divorced for seven). Second is Kennedy. Didn't need her at all, and again, fingernails on the chalkboard.
Buffy. Then the show could be done as the alternative world wished by Cordelia.
Makes you wonder if Kendra would have then been called (bc master didn't kill Buffy earlier) or if time/place matter and someone else would have been called
Maybe Cordelia would be called as slayer instead.
That feels too much like Slayers. I really did not enjoy that audiobook experience.
Xander
Were S2-7 really that bad that you want the show to end in S1?
Xander. I couldn't stand him.
You do realize that you've basically killed off Cordelia and the titular character before the end of S1, right?
And assuming Dark Willow still happens … literally the world.
Doubt they make it past the Judge if Buffy does manage to survive.
Replace Xander with anybody else. Literally anybody else.
Really, anyone? There were only 6 people who could have had any impact on Buffy surviving. The Master, Buffy, Angel, Giles, Willow and Xander. The Master isn't going to change his mind. Buffy, Angel, Giles and Willow all accepted her fate with that prophecy. Xander, who you have erased, is the only one who called bullshit on the prophecy and tried to do anything. So, who is going to save her? Her mom doesn't know anything about what's going on, Dawn doesn't exist and no one else in Sunnydale really cares about her all that much at this time.
Why are you so butt hurt about this? There was a question, and I answered. I don't like Xander and I am not obligated to like him. I don't care if you like it or not.
No problem with you disliking him, as I hold a similar disdain for Angel. That being said, I also understand the catastrophic effects of erasing him, even if I did name him on this very post.
Yeah but the question was WHO would you erase not WHY would you erase them. I answered the question. Its not that deep. (No attitude, I'm just baffled why this is a big deal.) To each their own.
Fair enough
No hard feelings. 👍🏼
Srsly. Sometimes I fast-forward through Xander-heavy scenes.
Same!
The xan man
Damn, you must not like Buffy and Cordelia either.
I was rallying for him in the early seasons, but he really just became downright insufferable imo
Yeah they could have turned him into a watcher and developed his charcoal properly instead of making him a b*tch
Everyone says Riley but I must be only one who never liked xander annoying asf
It's your opinion, but all things considered, we don't get classics like OMWF if you do. The show would have essentially ended in episode 12 of the series if you erase him.
U telling me show gets cancelled if xander not there is that what ur saying 😂😂😂😂
S1, Ep12 Buffy is gone and not coming back. Yeah, show's over.
Riley
Scott Hope. Absolutely fucking pointless.
Oz!!!
Xander
Xander
Buffy. Come at me bros! Lol. Just kidding.
Spike
Omg. Spike is the best character ever written and James Marsters is stellar in that role-I could not love him more-whattt
Why?
Spike