By Chris Snellgrove
| Revealed
Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a present that followers like to endlessly rewatch as a result of they at all times discover one thing new to understand. Nonetheless, these followers are more and more discovering one thing outdated to hate: the character of Xander Harris. He was written to be an adorkable male presence in a female-dominated present, however lots of his jokes and actions (like that point he magically roofied each single lady at Sunnydale Excessive so that they’d fall in love with him) simply appear wildly problematic on reflection.
Truthfully, the very best factor Xander ever did was date Anya, however he left her on the altar, changing into nothing however “unhealthy joke assist character” by the present’s ultimate season. Nonetheless, Buffy got here dangerously near enhancing Xander in probably the most surprising means: by brutally killing him off. Much more surprisingly, he was going to be the ultimate kind tailored by the First Evil, successfully making one among Buffy’s oldest, closest associates into the collection’ ultimate Huge Dangerous.
The Huge Dangerous That By no means Was
This data involves us courtesy of the unique DVD commentary tracks for Buffy the Vampire Slayer (simply in case you wanted another excuse to embrace bodily media). Within the commentary for the episode “Soiled Ladies,” author Drew Goddard stated that the writing employees thought-about ending Xander’s first encounter with Caleb (a minion of the First Evil, performed by Nathan Fillion) in a really completely different means. As a substitute of merely having the henchman rip our hero’s eye out, Caleb would have instantly killed Xander!
Clearly, the writers in the end determined in opposition to this plan: in Season 7, Xander narrowly survives his encounter with Caleb and makes it by means of the ultimate episode intact, though his former fiancée Anya dies. Nonetheless, I can’t assist however really feel just like the writing employees made the improper name right here. Had Caleb killed off Xander, it could have legitimized him as a significant risk whereas making the First Evil’s ultimate appearances that rather more chilling.
The Change That Would Have Made Season 7 Unforgettable
You see, the First Evil’s gimmick is that she will take the type of anybody who has beforehand died. That is how she impersonates Buffy (who died twice) to torment the Slayer and to control others, together with Spike. When Buffy’s former boytoy vampire comes again with a brand new soul and a muddled mind, the First manages to deceive him, in the end remodeling Spike into her murderous assault canine.
It was at all times enjoyable seeing the First Evil take the type of numerous deceased characters, however how a lot cooler wouldn’t it be if it took the type of Xander after Caleb killed him? Buffy would all of a sudden be receiving taunts and threats from somebody carrying the face of her closest buddy. This may have made the First that a lot scarier to audiences as a result of taking Xander’s look can be a relentless reminder of simply how lethal this historic evil actually was.
Joss Whedon’s Self-Insert Character Practically Died Onscreen
Plus, the writing for Xander’s character had gotten more and more worse over time, so killing him off can be an efficient (if drastic) means of constructing the character attention-grabbing once more. Moreover, Joss Whedon has continuously said that Xander is his personal self-insert character, which is why the younger man serves because the quip-spewing class clown of the Scooby Gang. Now that Joss Whedon has been canceled (each for allegedly dishonest on his spouse with unnamed forged members and for allegedly abusive conduct on the Justice League set), some followers may discover it downright cathartic to see his surrogate character get killed onscreen.
The Buffy revival is correct across the nook, and it might very nicely retroactively redeem Xander, making him a extra likable character. Till that occurs, although, he will likely be remembered by the Buffy the Vampire Slayer fandom as a man who will get just a bit creepier each time they rewatch the present. Due to this and (let’s be sincere) how weak sauce the First Evil was as a ultimate villain, it could have been higher for the present if Xander had been killed off so he might take his rightful place because the scariest Huge Dangerous of all of them.
