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Buffy The Vampire Slayer: The Top 10 Villains!

For some reason, it seems fashionable these days to trash the long-running tv show based on the 1992 film of the same name, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I don’t personally understand the sudden turning on series and can say, without hetation, that I was and am a huge fan of the show.

Throughout the series, Buffy faces down weekly evils interspersed between storyline carrying big bads that wreak havoc on the daily lives of the title Slayer and her faithful Scoobies. Though each villain carries with them the threat of pain and death, some big bads were just a little bigger and a little badder than all the others, and just a bit more difficult for the Slayer to face - whether alone, or with her friends at her de. I’ve compiled a list of what I conder to be the worst villains and hardships the Slayer was forced to face down in her tenure. So without further ado, here goes:

#1 The MasterOkay, any fan of the show had to see this one coming. Of all the big bads Buffy has faced over the years, the worst of them have always had a personal connection to the Slayer. It was never only about strength; even the best Slayer can be felled by an unremarkable vampire on a bad day. It was the villains best at getting into Buffy’s head and damaging her emotional attachments that were always worst on the Slayer, and Angel’s transformation back into the evil Angelus was the worst of the lot.

The story is mple and well-known; the vampire Angel, who often assted Buffy and her Scoobies in taking on the weekly evil, had been cursed by a gypsy tribe with his own soul. The vamps of the Buffyverse were always bereft of human souls, with a demon taking over the flesh left behind: pure evil. With the addition of a human soul, Angel is in torture over what his vampire self had done, and in constant battle to fight the vampiric urges brought on by the demon that still reded within him. When he achieves a ngle moment of pure happiness, where the guilt of all that his vampire-self had wrought was not foremost on his mind, he loses that soul and reverts to the vampire Angelus, who had been known for his viciousness that went beyond even what was expected from a normal vampire.

Angel had been not only the love of Buffy’s teenage life but also representative of her cognitive abilities as a Slayer. Learning of his past, Buffy chooses to retain her trust in Angel and continues to rely on him, in spite of what he had once been. When others (particularly Xander) had questioned his loyalty and motives, Buffy had stuck by her “cradle-robbing creature of the night boyfriend” and, in the long run, was forced to bear the consequence of that decion.

That consequence is the darkest Buffy had ever faced. She’d had to kill vampires she had known as humans before, knowing that the human soul was gone, never to return, and what was left was mply a demon wearing the human shell. Angelus was something different entirely. Evil and fantastically manipulative, he keeps the knowledge of all that had gone on between Buffy and Angel. He knows her strengths and weaknesses, knows exactly which buttons to push to hurt her the most and he relishes the torture.

The greatest challenge come to bear because of Angelus arrives with the demon Acathla. Resurrected and beginning to tear the world into a hell dimenon, Angel’s soul is restored and he is left unknowing of what is happening around him, when the damage is already done; the only way to prevent the apocalypse this time around is for Buffy to kill him. We already knew that Buffy would sacrifice herself when necessary, as she had faced the Master to avert an apocalypse knowing full well that she was propheed to die at his hands. But in this instance, Buffy proves that her selflessness extends beyond her own life: she will save the world at the cost of her own happiness, and at the cost of a loved one’s life if necessary.
dew Monday 8/29/2011 at 09:07 PM | 81779
Love this post. I wouldn't of put Angel and Spike on the list, nce for the most part they are good guys by the end, but they were pretty badass when they were evil.The Gentlemen were one of my favorite episodes.

......... Shit, I think I have to rewatch the series now after reading this. Good post :)
HorrorDaily Tuesday 8/30/2011 at 10:22 PM | 81879
Fantastic list!! Buffy means the world to me!
Michael Aspinwall Tuesday 8/30/2011 at 10:25 PM | 81881
Love this post. I wouldn't of put Angel and Spike on the list, nce for the most part they are good guys by the end, but they were pretty badass when they were evil.The Gentlemen were one of my favorite episodes.

......... Shit, I think I have to rewatch the series now after reading this. Good post :)

I went back and forth on whether or not to include both Angel and Spike, but in the end I felt I had to. Spike, because of the huge change he presented from the Master and the Anointed One, and Angel/Angelus because he really managed to hurt her more than on an emotional level than any of the others.

Also, I have the BtVS Christmas ornament of The Gentleman, LOL!

Thanks for reading!
dew Tuesday 8/30/2011 at 11:02 PM | 81886
i give this series a hard time on the regular lol

the truth is, its a decent show that felt just a little too poppy at times for me. That was one o f the stranger things about it for me, one episode felt crazy vile and straight forward, while another would feel (at least to me) like it was written with the intention of winning over every trendy 14 year old to walk the planet.

all in all, from what ive seen, it had its moments; just not the kind of show i can get behind 100%
Matt_Molgaard Tuesday 8/30/2011 at 11:24 PM | 81888
i give this series a hard time on the regular lol

the truth is, its a decent show that felt just a little too poppy at times for me. That was one o f the stranger things about it for me, one episode felt crazy vile and straight forward, while another would feel (at least to me) like it was written with the intention of winning over every trendy 14 year old to walk the planet.

all in all, from what ive seen, it had its moments; just not the kind of show i can get behind 100%

It was definitely aimed at a younger audience, to begin with - I'll give you that. The difference between this and a lot of the other crap out at the time was, of course, the horror element, but also the more adult themes that were running through most of the time. It reminded me to some degree of IT - this dark underbelly to what should have been a happy little suburban town, that most people are exposed to but choose to ignore and remain blissfully unaware.

Then there's the idea of the token blonde not just surviving but kicking ass on her way, the geeks quietly saving the world, even some individual ideas addressed per episode - the girl who disappears because no one sees her anyway, suburban PTAs clamoring on the bandwagon against witchcraft and anything even vaguely goth because of one bad incident, even a lot of what I listed about, in facing fear and realizing your idols are more human than you want to admit. I felt it was very clever, and it had that token Whedon charm.
dew Wednesday 8/31/2011 at 02:32 AM | 81898
I hated seeing this series go.

I never missed an episode of this or Angel; both were great shows.

It's strange, but looking back on it now, all of the villains sort of run together.

I don't think I could think of a top ten list because honestly there are only a few that really stand out in my memory.

When I think of true villains, I don't think of Angel, Faith, and Spike due to how they changed throughout the series.

The only three villains that stand out to me are The Gentlemen from the Hush episode . . . one of the best episodes of the show by the way, Dracula (because I was so disappointed in how they portrayed him), and Adam.

I think I need to re-watch the series on Netflix to refresh my memory.
gummi Wednesday 8/31/2011 at 04:03 AM | 81902
Loved this show and really wish there was a way it could come back or I hadn't sold my DVDs nce I don't remember a lot of the episodes! While I agree with these entries here I would love to have seen the Mayor. That guy was just so deliciously evil and creepy. Such a nice, well-mannered man, but underneath that exterior is an evil, evil little twit. Also, Nathan Fillion's character in the last season (can't remember his exact name). He was also just such a psychotic mysoginist, but also a cold, callous, unstoppable killing machine.
Ed Reilly Wednesday 8/31/2011 at 01:51 PM | 81933
How can you forget Glory, she was great.

Although that was the season that introduced her whiny ster Dawn, still didnt like that.

I thought the Mayor and Faith were great viilians.
latingoddyss Thursday 9/01/2011 at 01:12 AM | 81959
I loved this show....my neice is currently obsessed with it (that's my girl lol), she plays it w/her friends in the schoolyard. She's buffy, they have someone for willow, xander, and spike I think lol., gave her the two seasons I actually had on dvd. I was also so sorry to see it end, hoped it'd go on forever like soap operas. :)

The shows age range definately changed as it went on but I thought it was kind of fitting condering the characters were getting older too so I didn't mind, I actually like them older anyway. I also wouldn't have put angel and spike on the list either...for me I definately would have added Glory and maybe that preacher dude who took out xanders eye. If spike had to be there I would have probably paired him w/drulla like your pic showed. Angel was pretty cool as it's own show too but I loved buffy's so much more.
kweandee Monday 10/10/2011 at 06:25 PM | 84363
It sounds really amazing.I have come to know about it from this post. Really had a great time by reading it.
wave17 Thursday 11/03/2011 at 06:13 AM | 86377