Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Every Main Character Who Almost Died Sooner – Screen Rant

All of these Buffy the Vampire Slayer characters almost died much sooner. The groundbreaking series, which ran for seven seasons from 1997-2003, became known for killing off fan-favorite characters. This began with Jenny Calendar, whose heartbreaking season 2 death was permanent, proving that, despite its supernatural premise, the show took death very seriously. Buffy the Vampire Slayerwas full of fantastical situations, yet the writers always kept the series grounded in real emotions. There were actual stakes involved and even in the rare cases in which a character was resurrected, there were always major consequences that rippled across the show.

Although creator Joss Whedon was known for mapping out seasons well ahead of time, television shows are constantly evolving. Buffy the Vampire Slayer features a great deal of foreshadowing, in everything from Buffys death to Willows sexuality. Regardless of the larger brushstrokes of the plan for any given season though, a whole lot of blanks are filled in along the way to paint the full picture. Inmany cases, the overall narrative was changed in order to keepcertain characters involved due to their popularity among audiences, as well as cast and crew. Some werent meant to die, but still played a much larger part in the series than anticipated, such as Buffys mom, Joyce (Kristine Sutherland), and season 3 Big Bad, Mayor Richard Wilkins (Harry Groener). However, many fan favorites almostmet a tragic fate much sooner.

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Viewers love to bemoan Whedon's penchant for tormenting his creations and rarely allowing them any semblance of happiness, but the truth is, in many cases,disaster was meant to strikefar earlier on. Most of the following characters were so integral to the Buffyverse that its virtually impossible to imagine what shapeBuffy the Vampire Slayerand its spin-off, Angel, wouldve taken had they met their respective ends as originally intended. Thankfully, the writers saw fit to grant several stays of execution over the years. Otherwise, eventswouldve played out quite differently.

Its difficult to believe, but Angels role in the Buffyverse was meant to be significantly smaller. After Buffy and Angel slept together and the vampire lost his soul, the slayer wound up ending him in the season 2 finale. It was one of Buffy the Vampire Slayers most gut-wrenching moments, as Buffy was forced to kill the love of her life immediately after his soul had been restored. What many fans dont know, is that this death was meant to be permanent. However, after the WB approached Whedon with the desire for a spin-off, he resurrected the vampire for season 3. Angels arc over the course of that season set him up to leave Sunnydale (and his true love) behind and strike out on his own in LA the following year.Angelwould continue on for five seasons before being unceremoniously canceled in 2004.

It's equally hard to imagine is the Buffyverse without Spike, but William the Bloodys demise was going to be much earlier. The vampire almost loses his life during the two-part episode of season 2, episodes 9 and 10, Whats My Line?; that was the original plan. Spike would die, leaving Drusilla and Angelus to wreakhavoc on Sunnydale. However, not only did Spike quickly become a fan favorite on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but both cast and crew loved working with actor James Marsters. So, Spike was saved from certain death. This wouldnt be the last timethe vampire survived past his expiration date. He was meant to appear just once more, in season 3, episode 8, Lovers Walk, but instead became a series regular in season 4. Spikewas not only a staple for the rest of the show's run, but was even resurrected on Angel after his heroic sacrifice in Buffy's series finale.

Buffy may have taken her calling seriously, but Faith was Buffy the Vampire Slayers cautionary tale about how quickly power can corrupt. Initially, that's all she was meant to do. Eliza Dushku stole every scene she was in, expertly playing the dark reflection of Buffy herself. The actress made such a strong impression on Whedon that he abandoned his initial plans for the character, adding more material for Faith as the season continued. Although Faith would go on to find redemption on Angel, an arc brought full circle when she returned to Sunnydale for Buffys final season, her original fate was much darker. In the early stages, the character was going to commit suicide after accidentally killing the deputy mayor. This wouldve propelled season 3 - widely regarded as the shows best - into much darker territory, and drastically changed the course of the series.

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Anya's role on Buffy the Vampire Slayerreally expanded beyond Whedons original vision. Emma Caulfield was cast for season 3, episode 9, The Wish, and was meant to appear just once more in season 3, episode 16, Doppelgangland. Whedon was so impressed by Caulfield that Anya was granted a considerable amount of screen time after that. The former vengeance demonhad quite an incredible arcover the course of the show's run, and audiences were crushed by her abrupt death in the series finale. However, by that point, she had already been granted a stay of execution. Anya was also supposed to die in the season 5 finale, The Gift. Whedon has joked that he keptAnyaaround becauseCaulfield wouldnt stop moving when Xander was carrying her at the end of the episode, but it's likely he realized that her death, on top of Buffy's sacrifice, would have been too much.

According to Alexis Denisof, Wesley Wyndam-Pryce wasn't meant toexist for very long. Hiswhole character arc was to show up, annoy Buffy and Giles, and then die. Thankfully for fans of the character, the writers loved Denisof's portrayal, so Wesley survived for years to come. Whedon struggled tofigure out awayfor the former Watcher to fit in on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but instead wound up finding him a new home on Angel. This ended up being the best decision for Wesley, who had far more room to grow on the spin-off series. Though never a main character on Buffy, he remained on Angel for the duration of its five-season run, evolving from one of the Buffyverse's more disliked characters into one of its most beloved.

The death of Jenny Calendar (Robia LaMorte) was a turning point for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, proving not only that Angelus was unequivocally evil, but also that no one was safe. Interestingly, this pivotal moment initially had nothing to do with Jenny at all. Angelus was actually going to kill Oz. When Seth Greens character was initially introduced, fans hoping to see Willow and Xander wind up together were not pleased. However, audiences fell in love with Oz in season 2, episode 13, Innocence, around the same time Willow did. Taking into account the chemistry between Alyson Hannigan and Green, as well as the relationship's obvious potential, Whedon instead opted to kill off the woman Giles loved instead. Oz would remain on the show until season 4,at which point Green chose to leave.

Darla may not have been a main character, but she was one of the first faces viewers saw inBuffy the Vampire Slayer's pilot and would go on to appear in some form in every season ofAngel.Angels sire had a very minor role in Buffy, one that wouldnt be expanded upon until her arc on Angel. Angel killed her in the middle of season 1, but she was actually meant to die evensooner. Though Darla met her end in season 1, episode 7, Angel, it was initially supposed to happen in season 1, episode 2, The Harvest. However, Whedon felt that keeping her around would add to Angels story and lend more complexityto his romance with the slayer. Ultimately, Julie Benzs character would go on to appear in several flashbacks on both Buffythe Vampire Slayer and Angel, as well as having a major present-day arc on the latter in seasons 2 and 3.

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Jamie Gerber is a writer for Screen Rant, The Quiz and Psycho Drive-In. Despite getting her English degree years ago, she cant seem to leave her job at the comic shop. She has an obsession with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and enjoys bullying people into playing the Buffy board game. Her crushes include Michael Fassbender, Nightwing and the cartoon fox from Robin Hood. She takes far too many pictures of both her dog and her horse, and prefers spending time with them to hanging out with actual human beings. Jamie loves all things pop culture and believes her life would be meaningless without a soundtrack. She aspires to write about the things that she loves at a job that can support her massive Thai take-out addiction.

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