Favorite Buffy the Vampire Slayer Characters

I've grown to love almost all of the characters: Buffy, Xander, Willow, Giles, Jenny, Cordelia, Angel, Oz, Joyce, Faith, Wesley, Darla, Drusilla, Anya, Tara, and Dawn. She is the reason why The Body, The Gift, Once More, with Feeling, and some of the best episodes of television ever made happen. Plus, she has been through a lot, so stop hating. Jonathan, Andrew, and Riley, just to name a few. But Spike is my absolute favorite. He's such an incredibly complex and well-written character, well-acted too. I hate how violent and abusive Buffy was to him during the 6th season when all he sought was love and affection. He played a great hero and villain. Plus, he's super funny and super hot (though all the Buffy characters are). What more can you ask?

Gotta love Buffy. Super relatable, super powered, and I just feel so deeply for her every time something happens to her. SMG is superb at playing her, and she's truly one of the greatest characters ever written. I can't say anything more without writing an anthology. She's just magnificent.

Every other show: blonde girl walks into an alley, gets attacked and killed by a monster. Buffy: blonde girl walks into an alley, kicks monster butt. And you ask why I like her?

Sarah Michelle Gellar is and will always be one of the most underrated actresses. Even though she gets plenty of love, it will never be enough.

Willow is never a dull character. First, she's the shy, charming, and witty Willow, and then she gradually gets more confident in herself, more loving, and even more powerful as a witch. I love her in season 6, especially as Dark Willow, but there isn't a single moment where I hate Willow. I love her forever and always.

Alyson Hannigan is also phenomenal for bringing her to life so well. Whenever Willow cries, I cry too.

Willow has changed so much throughout the series, and it really shows! I love Dark Willow, and I absolutely love Alyson Hannigan! She played Willow so well, and I loved Willow throughout the whole season!

Far and away my favorite character, and so spectacularly acted by Anthony Head. He also blew up the snake in season three, knew the spells in season four, killed the god in season five, and dosed Willow in season six.

His backstory is brilliant and so intriguing, and his character development, while more subtle than that of many other characters, is profound and elegant. The few dark or betraying decisions he makes are so painful to watch because of how well they are done.

Adorable Giles. Buffy's rock and the steady thread throughout the series.

Anya was the funniest character of anyone on the show due to her iconic bluntness and sassiness, plus her trademark fear of bunnies. Despite sometimes getting on other characters' nerves and not being politically correct, she was incredibly useful to the Scoobies because of her extensive demon knowledge, occasional vengeance demon powers, and other magical capabilities.

Don't tell me you don't cry during her speech in "The Body" and her death scene in "Chosen." Even if she isn't your favorite, Anya is almost always in the top three.

The Queen C of Sass probably had the best character development of all the characters. From being cheated on to finding love with Angel and using her last day alive to set Angel back on track before dying again, Cordelia is the best character.

I loved her bitchiness on Buffy, but I truly began to love her on Angel where she kept that same "Queen Bee" attitude but also became a maternal figure. She became loving, powerful, independent, caring, and actually useful.

Plus, her reappearance in "You're Welcome" makes me bawl my eyes out. I just love Cordelia. I can't put it all into words.

Angel is far superior to Spike, especially taking into consideration his time on Angel. Endlessly devoted to good and Buffy, he was just awesome. All he ever wanted was Buffy's happiness and to help the world for what he did to it. Spike was entirely selfish. Angel all the way.

I really like him (haven't watched Angel yet, though). I feel like he's a little bit funnier in his show because sometimes in Buffy he was a tiny bit boring, or maybe just quiet when he had a soul. I know he was supposed to be in pain, but come on. I do really like him, though.

I love her arc. I always felt a little empathy for her as an outsider and never really feeling like she belongs. Her entire dark history was really hypnotic and tragic.

What really makes me love her, though, is the beginning of her redemption arc and how central she is to Buffy's character. Buffy stabbed her, going against her rule of not killing humans. But when the two of them switch bodies and Faith (while in Buffy's body) begins punching her own body? Tragic.

Then her time on Angel is even more of a testament to her character, and she reveals her self-loathing in one of the most tragic moments on the show. It also makes Angel even cooler. Faith is just amazing through and through.

Oz rules. I love the way he sees the world and appreciates the absurdity of life.

Oz is a great character. His overall unique style makes a huge impact compared to most of the other characters.

Not the most important character or even the best character, but that doesn't diminish my love for her. She's just such a lovable character, so sweet and loving and kind. "Under Your Spell" is such a beautiful song in every way. It really shows how much she loved Willow.

Her death was tragic and gave rise to one of my favorite villains, Dark Willow. When Willow visits her grave and thinks she's talking to Tara through Cassie, my heart breaks.

One of my favorite villains. I love her insanity and goofiness, as well as her surprising capability for evil and destruction. She's quite the villain, but I can't hate her. Every episode with Drusilla in it is amazing.

Drusilla is just so awesome in many ways, especially how paralyzing her eyes can become.

I don't know why she doesn't have more votes. Drusilla was quirky, extremely weird, and crazy, and we love her for that.