Least favorite Buffy characters

[TremblingBluStar]

I thought I'd bring forth this subject after re-watching the first three seasons of Buffy for the first time in years and ask, which Buffy/Angel characters do you not care for and why? Keep in mind that I intend this to be for fans of the series, not people who hate everything associated with Joss Whedon - or people who concentrate all of their seething hatred on a certain blonde vampire. I'd like to discuss real reasons why certain characters rub people the wrong way and why.

For me, the obvious first choice is Xander. I know he grows and matures over the years, but throughout the first three seasons he was the one character I consistently wanted to slap hard! Yes, Whedon always has characters who make frequent wise cracks, but Xander is the only one whose dialogue consists entirely of wise cracks! It got a bit tiring after a while - especially when the group is discussing something serious or a friend of his is in pain and he comes in with a smart ass comment!

His whole jealous tirade over Angel also made me want to rip him a new one! Granted, I felt he was right in not trusting Angel after his turn to evilness, but everything before that made him appear desperate and creepy, not to mention someone who couldn't get over other people being happy.

I know that everybody knows a person like this - someone who uses snide comments to avoid taking anything seriously. But such people are generally avoided - not trusted with people's lives on a regular basis.

My second choice is Oz - particulary Oz from season 2 and 3. If Xander is the one Whedon character who is 100% annoying, Oz is the one who is consistently deadpan and lifeless. I know this is not Seth Green's fault, as he was playing the character as written, but even when he was given something to sink his teeth into Green simply didn't deliver.

There should be a drinking game based around everytime someone gushes over how cool Oz is or mentions the fact that he's in a band. Participants would no doubt end up at the E.R. with alcohol poisoning before the end credits!

My final choice would have to be Riley. The character may have worked in more capable hands, but Marc Blucas is simply one of the most unconvincing actors I've seen get regular work this side of Keanu Reeves. Hearing some pretty good Whedon dialogue poured from Blucas' lips was like Chinese water torture for your ears!

 

[Hermiod]

Buffy. She was just obnoxious. Boo hoo hoo, I've got super powers, boo hoo.

Spike. Or, more specifically, Spike after he was chipped, moaning, crying, sobbing, broken hearted Spike. Season two Spike was great. What happened to that guy?

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

I imagine this is just going to be the same for most of us:

Dawn (whiny, and annoying)
Connor (whiny, annoying, and just plain stupid)
Riley (boring, and not Angel)

 

[darkwing_duck1]

Tara.

Issues of lesbianism notwithstanding, she's simply a wallflower. She's early season Willow to the N-th degree, and annoying as hell.

Kennedy at least had more to her character than "let's be more 'pathos' than Willow to make her look good".

 

[Thrall]

Spike. I hate everything about him. I hate his rude, condescending, patronizing attitude. I hate his neediness. I hate his stupidity and immaturity, of which he is proud of. I hate his mediocre fighting skills which he delusionally believes makes him a legitimate badass. I hate the fact that he smokes and drinks, when being dead would give you no buzz from it. And from that we must conclude that he only does it because he's a big poser and does it because he thinks it makes him look cool. I hate how he always gets a free pass on every evil act he ever committed because a bunch of dumb broads on the internet think the actor who plays him is hot. I hate how he's never been punished for anything he's ever done wrong. I hate his magically disappearing/reappearing accent. I hate his blissful and willful apathy and unawareness of the consequences of his actions. I hate how every character is forced to put up with his shit, when they have no reason to. I hate how he ruined my two favorite shows. I hate how he has nothing but contempt for his victims. I hate his fans, as they've done nothing but set the feminist movement back 50 years by supporting such a boorish, mysogonistic thug. I hate how he dragged every character down into mediocrity with him.

I understand he has his fans and supporters, and that's fine. But that's how I feel. How I've always felt. And nothing will ever change my mind about it.

Tera was boring and useless. Lesbian Willow never sold me due to the awesomeness that was Oz. All The Slayerettes were one-dimensional and annoying. Anya was The K-Mart Cordie. Angel, in season one, was an Emo Tuxedo Mask. Riley, Xander, and Giles were characters with alot of potential that just never really grew all that much due to Whedon's dislike of normal, human characters. Buffy was fun and down-to-earth originally. Then she became whiny and self-obsessed. And then from that she also became jaded, cynical, ungrateful, preachy, moppey, bitchy, and a complete hypocrite. She became kind of like the Eliott Spitzer of Slayers really.

 

[Mr Light]

Buffy starting with Season Four. She became such a shrill bitch but in the early years she was the funniest and lightest in the bunch! Spike in Season 4-7 (loved him in Angel though). Dawn. Joyce (never gave a fig about her). Riley in Season 4, but liked him in S5.

 

[Shurik]

Kennedy
Riley
Willow
Angel, before he lost his soul. He was much better on his own show.

 

[Jayson]

Tara and Kennedy. They exsited for the sole reason of being a girlfriend to Willow. They didn't add much to the show beyond that. I do like Tara a little better of the two because I like the actress and I like her song in "Once More with Feeling." I wasn't a huge fan of Angel either until he got his own show or when he was Angelious. Riley is underated. I kind of like how he was kind of a all-american boy who went to a dark place but come out of still with his ethics intact. I really think his character was given more depth in season 5 which made him more intresting in season 4 with repeat viewings. Not a huge fan of the actor though so that kind of hurt.


Jason

 

[TremblingBluStar]

Riley is underated. I kind of like how he was kind of a all-american boy who went to a dark place but come out of still with his ethics intact. I really think his character was given more depth in season 5 which made him more intresting in season 4 with repeat viewings. Not a huge fan of the actor though so that kind of hurt.

Exactly my point with Riley. He wasn't a bad character - just a bad actor.

Okay. The first few episodes of him wanting to ask Buffy out were annoying. Get help from her roommate? Is he 12?

I also like how, when asked what Buffy is into, Willow can only say "cheeze". Shows just how shallow Buffy was as a character. I mean, don't get me wrong, she wasn't on my list of annoying characters - but she seemed to existed only to be the slayer and have something other characters can revolve around. There really was no substance to her.

Spike. I hate everything about him. I hate his rude, condescending, patronizing attitude.

I don't think Spike was ever meant to be liked. You can enjoy a character without exactly thinking their actions are okay. Spike was at least entertaining to watch, even when he was being evil.

I hate how he always gets a free pass on every evil act he ever committed because a bunch of dumb broads on the internet think the actor who plays him is hot. I hate how he's never been punished for anything he's ever done wrong.

But he wasn't exactly ever rewarded either. The character has fans, yes - but so does Gul Dukat! So does every other good villain out there. Even when he was turned into a supposed good guy, he was still despised by most of the people around him. It's not like he and Angel suddenly became best pals after he got his soul back.

 

[Caligula]

Tara.

Issues of lesbianism notwithstanding, she's simply a wallflower. She's early season Willow to the N-th degree, and annoying as hell.

Kennedy at least had more to her character than "let's be more 'pathos' than Willow to make her look good".

Tara was a bit more subtle and gentle. Kennedy forces herself upon people, a quality I very much dislike.

I think we all know who my favorite character was.... but as for my LEAST favorite character? Hmm... I can't tell if we're limiting ourselves to main characters or not. If we are, then it'd be Anya who was my least favorite. If there are no limitations, then I'd say anyone who was first introduced in Season 7, especially Kennedy and Robin Wood.

 

[TremblingBluStar]

Hmm... I can't tell if we're limiting ourselves to main characters or not.

To avoid having this turn into a huge rant about Ethan, I'd say main characters only. Or at the very least characters who have appeared in more than one episode.

Having said that, I'm going to break my own rule by expressing my utter loathing for Veruca. Even Joss' inclination to give characters odd sounding names has limits when one has a name that sounds like a new Hoover model. As attractive as the actress was, I really didn't care for her!

 

[cultcross]

I imagine this is just going to be the same for most of us:

Dawn (whiny, and annoying)
Connor (whiny, annoying, and just plain stupid)
Riley (boring, and not Angel)

Well it's certainly the same for me!

Those are my bottom three without a doubt.
In the later seasons, Buffy herself often joined that list. But not prior to season 5, so I'm giving her a pass.

Having said that, I'm going to break my own rule by expressing my utter loathing for Veruca. Even Joss' inclination to give characters odd sounding names has limits when one has a name that sounds like a new Hoover model. As attractive as the actress was, I really didn't care for her!

I hated her character, true, but then I also got the impression we were supposed to. The writers wanted us to be on Willow's side in that episode, because Willow was the character they were hanging on to. So they wrote Veruca to be absolutely detestable and get our backs up so that we would root for Willow.

 

[Pingfah]

I never liked Faith, I mean I know the character is supposed to be unlikeable, but I didn't like the way Dushku portrayed her either. Every time she says Five by Five it really grinds.

I thought she was rubbish in Tru Calling as well, Dollhouse is the first show i've seen her in where she didn't annoy the hell out of me.

 

[Ethros]

I wonder who 3D Master will pick??????


As for me... er... Dawn in Season 6 was pretty annoying with how she was constantly whining. But yet Michelle Trachtenberg was so fucking hot I'd always forgive her
erm, Tara I was always fairly "meh" towards...

Other than that I can't really say. I'm not trying to be some arse-kisser to it but I always loved the shows, and have never been one to become some mentally obsessive online prick with autism, who literally can't comprehend the difference between fact and opinion, and who constantly moans and groans about one thing or another, especially a fictional charatcer

[Holden in Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back]"FIC-TIONAL... CHARACTERS! Am I getting through to you here at all?!"[/Holden in Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back]

 

[Thrall]

I don't think Spike was ever meant to be liked.

Not by the characters. But the audience was supposed to love him more then life itself. The Scoobies hated Angel, so it was far for the course.

You can enjoy a character without exactly thinking their actions are okay.

True. But then again Emperor Palpatine was never shown in a heroic and sympathetic light like Spike was.

Spike was at least entertaining to watch, even when he was being evil.

Only when he was evil actually. Any pretense of heroics was crap.

But he wasn't exactly ever rewarded either.

I'd say having Buffy suck your rotted, pale cock and tell you how awesome and heroic you are, when you obviously aren't, is a reward. It's no wonder Sarah Michelle Gellar called her scenes with Spike "degrading" and wants nothing more to do with that idiot Whedon.

The character has fans, yes - but so does Gul Dukat! So does every other good villain out there.

Gul Dukat was never shown as a hero. And even when he was shown as sympathetic, the main characters were written as being smart enough to know it was all bullshit. Kudos to Ira Behr and Ron Moore for having the brains and creative honesty Joss Whedon didn't.

Spike wasn't a villain though. He was tragic, poor wittle victim of society who just needed a hug and a pitty fuck to feel good about himself so his true, heroic self could come out and shine on all the world and bless it with his shirtless awesomeness. Don'tcha know that?

Even when he was turned into a supposed good guy, he was still despised by most of the people around him.

He deserved to be despised by The Scoobies. One of the few consistent things Whedon ever did writing-wise.

It's not like he and Angel suddenly became best pals after he got his soul back.

Because he was the same douchebag he had known for 100 years. He hadn't changed one bit, even after getting a soul. That right there was enough to make Angel despise him, and he even said so. Thus proving how much smarter The Angel writers were then The Buffy writers.

 

[Caligula]

Having said that, I'm going to break my own rule by expressing my utter loathing for Veruca. Even Joss' inclination to give characters odd sounding names has limits when one has a name that sounds like a new Hoover model. As attractive as the actress was, I really didn't care for her!

I can't believe I managed to gloss over that character. So, as far as guest characters (recurring or otherwise) go, it'd be #3: Kennedy, #2: Robin Wood, #1: Veruca.

"Wild at Heart" is probably my least favorite episode in the entire series, and all because of Veruca. I hated her behavior, her demeanor, the whole manner in which she was presented. Even worse is how she caused Oz to behave out of character to go along with the writers' plans for making Willow behave out of character afterwards. I'm not saying it's completely impossible for Willow to have found other women attractive, but she (and Tara) would have been better served if she'd been allowed to make this discovery under different circumstances.

 

[Holly]

Dawn and Riley for me, I hated both of them.

Spike for me, was really great early on, then shit when he got chipped, but gradually got better.

 

[darkwing_duck1]

I'd say having Buffy suck your rotted, pale cock and tell you how awesome and heroic you are, when you obviously aren't, is a reward. It's no wonder Sarah Michelle Gellar called her scenes with Spike "degrading" and wants nothing more to do with that idiot Whedon.

This is news to me...link?

 

[amdmiami]

Spike- I hate how everyone is freakin in love with this guy. He's so fucking disgusting and then the nasty degrading sex with Buffy was just.....eww. He also hogged up so much valuble screen time in later seasons.

Connor- My least favorite Buffyverse character of all time. What a douche. His constant betrayal to Angel and the gang pissed me off so much. He also always had the stupidest smug looks on his face. I just wanted to punch him. Oh yah... and he had sex with Cordelia! WTF?

 

[Praetor]

Riley (and Adam)
Kennedy
Connor