Buffy the Vampire Slayer: 10 People Anya Should Have Been With (Other Than Xander) – Screen Rant

Despite her propensity for saying the wrong thing at the wrong time, Anya the ex Vengeance Demon's candor and drive to be unabashedly herself had a refreshing effect onBuffy the Vampire Slayer.Intended as a limited character initially, summoned by various women on the series who were dissatisfied with the actions of the men in their lives, sheeventually became a full fledged member of the Scooby Gang. She took interest in one of them in particular, Xander Harris, and the two engaged in a challenging but ultimately progressive relationship that revealed each capable of real growth.

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Xander didn't have to be the only partner for Anya, however, and at times he came off as annoyed by her straight forward demeanor. Had she been paired off with someone that understood the difficulties of integrating into human society, like Spike, she might have been even happier. Here are 10 people Anya should have been with other than Xander.

Both Anya and Spike developed much larger roles in both the series and the lives of the Scooby Gang in Season 4. Their narratives followed a similar path, allowing them to find a sense of camaraderie. Both had been remorseless killers, and both had fallen in love with mortals that compelled them to be better versions of themselves.

Spike always welcomed Anya's candor, and appreciated that she always said what was on her mind, no matter how tactless. When she was having problems fitting in with the Scoobies while dating Xander, Spike provided her solace and a shoulder to cry on. If they weren't so stuck on Buffy and Xander, they might have been stuck on each other.

In Anya's younger days, she would have been a perfect match for some with as rapacious an appetite for human suffering as Angelus. Though as a Vengeance Demon she wouldn't have approved of his treatment of women, she could respect that as a vampire he fed as indiscriminately as he caused complete chaos.

For over a thousand years Anya waged a war on mankind for its treatment of women, helping vengeful and resentful women tired of their partners' philandering receive their revenge. In many ways, she surpassed Angelus in ability and temperament, making them a much better pair than his coupling with Drusilla or Darla.

As the Lord of Arashmaharr, D'Hoffryn was Anya's boss when she was a Vengeance Demon, supervising her reigns of terror on an unsuspecting male populace as far back as the Middle Ages. Imperious but cordial, he offered her guidance as equally as punishment, and was a fair superior.

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D'Hoffryn created Anya from a Aud, a Swedish woman who had turned her husband Olaf into a troll for cheating on her. Her skills impressed the Lower Being, and Anyanka was born, Patron Saint of Scorned Women. He always had a soft spot for his creation,and offered to turn her back into a Vengeance Demon when her human boyfriend Xander left her at the altar.

Though he might have seemed a little too bookish for Anya's taste (considering her attraction to blue-collar Xander), Rupert Giles makes a compelling case for a partner given their shared passion for demonology. As a former Vengeance Demon with over a thousand years of knowledge on the subject, she became an invaluable asset to Giles' research team (though had no patience for it).

Giles even felt compelled to put Anya in charge of the Magic Shop in Sunnydale, knowing she would be an exacting and wary shopkeeper. His poor batting average when it came to romance might have made him seem less worldly than she was, but he would never have left her at the altar.

When Dracula descended on Sunnydale in Season 5, it was all hands on deck for the Scoobies, who weren't totally prepared for the world-famous vampire to pay them a visit. While Buffy gathered the gang together for research, she learned interesting truths about the Prince of Darkness, especially from Anya.

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As it turned out, Anya had dated Dracula back in 1580. It's easy to imagine that as Anyanka, her and Dracula would make quite the power couple. And she could still keep Xander around, since Dracula briefly turned him into his own personal Renfield for a time.

In the Emmy-nominated episode "Once More With Feeling", the Scooby Gang fall under a mystical enchantment unknowingly started by Dawn Summers and a talisman she wasn't supposed to use. A powerful demon named Sweet arrives to make them all sing for their supper - and their lives.

Sweet ended up viewing Dawn as something of a bride to take back to his dimension once the Scoobies were unable to break the spell. The spell forced them all to sing about what each of them was concealing, but in Anya's case, it was just her fear of bunnies. Anya was the only member of the gang whose life wasn't completely destroyed with the knowledge of what was sung.

Initially a brief lover of Buffy's who cast her aside as a one night stand, Parker Abrams seemed like the perfect candidate for a visit from a Vengeance Demon. His asinine and callous behavior mimicked what summoned Anya in the first place, when Cordelia was disgusted with Xander kissing Willow while they were in a relationship.

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But Anya ended up falling in love with Xander, and couldn't bring herself to punish him the way she always had as a Vengeance Demon.The same could just as easily have been true with her and Parker, had Buffy decided to send Anya after him for his selfishness.

As the replacement Watcher for Rupert Giles after he got too close to Buffy, Wesley Wyndam-Pryce didn't ingratiate himself well to the Scooby Gang. He was even more sanctimonious than Giles, and Buffy found him cowardly and over reliant on spells, rather than trusting the intuition of allies like the Scoobies.

When Buffy read his mind after gaining telepathic powers, she once found that he found Cordelia attractive, despite his lustful thoughts being inappropriate. If Wesley was a fan of demanding, snarky, and gorgeous women, he would have definitely fallen for Anya.

One of the most colorful characters on Angel,Lorne was a flashy dressing demon who was able to read the intentions and hearts of the patrons at his karaoke club, while assisting Angel and his associates with the information at Wolfram and Hart. He never appeared onBuffy the Vampire Slayer,but if he had he no doubt would have noticed Anya.

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Lorne always preferred to flirt with the demon girls anyway, as opposed to take up the warrior ways of his fellow Deathwok Clan from the demonic dimension of Pylea. He was a lover, not a fighter, and found himself often sympathizing with humans, traits he ultimately shared with Anya.

Faith had a lot more traction in the series in the early seasons, whereas Anya wasn't a regular cast member until Season 5. While they wouldn't have had much reason to interact, there's no doubt that they would have found each others' perspectives similar. Both have no-nonsense personalities, and have a high propensity for taking what they want.

Like Anya, Faith wasn't punished for expressing her sexuality, and she swaggered around with enormous self confidence in regards to meeting her romantic needs. After all, she took Xander's virginity because she wanted it, an act Anya no doubt wouldhave done if she'd been around to do it.

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Kayleena has been raised on Star Wars and Indiana Jones from the crib. A film buff, she has a Western collection of 250+ titles and counting that she's particularly proud of. When she isn't writing for ScreenRant, CBR, or The Gamer, she's working on her fiction novel, lifting weights, going to synthwave concerts, or cosplaying. With degrees in anthropology and archaeology, she plans to continue pretending to be Lara Croft as long as she can.

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Buffy the Vampire Slayer: 10 People Anya Should Have Been With (Other Than Xander) - Screen Rant