Buffy the Vampire Slayer: 5 Times We Felt Bad For Giles (& 5 Times We Hated Him) – Screen Rant

Rupert Giles proved to be one of Buffy the Vampire Slayer's greatest characters, and featured throughout the show since its beginning. As Buffy's Watcher, he was a constant source of advice and guidance. However, the stuffy Brit also underwent more than his fair share of tragedy and loss in the never ending battle against the forces of darkness.

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But that's not to say that he was perfect or always acted selflessly. On more than one occasion Giles' actions have made us questions his motivations. With this in mind, here are 5 times we bad for Giles, and 5 times we hated him.

After so many years of fighting evil, the toll this had taken on Giles we're on full display in the season 7 episode "Lies My Parents Told Me", which saw Giles collude to kill Spike.

There's no doubt that at one pointno one wouldhave objected to the killing of Spike, but the character underwent a radical transformation, and by season 7 had even reclaimed his soul. Killing Spike simply made no sense, as he was a genuine asset to the team. Giles' actions led to Buffy wondering if Giles could be trusted.

Joyce's death was undoubtedly the most heartbreaking moment of the entire series. The shocking moment seemingly came out of nowhere and left Buffy devastated. But it's easy to forget that Giles was also close to Joyce. The two had a lot in common and had become friends over the years. In the season 5 episode "The Grave" we see everyone grieving in their own way, and in a brief moment Giles is seen listing toCream's "Tales of Brave Ulysses".

The song choice seems odd at first, but its significance becomes apparent because this was the same song he listened to with Joyce in season 3's "Band Candy", which saw them revert to teenagers. The song was his way of remembering Joyceand showed how much he cared for her.

Season 7's "Dirty Girls" saw Buffy and the entire team lead an all-out assault against The First Evil, leading to a devastating defeat. This shook the entire group's confidence in Buffy and led to her leaving, and the role of leader passed to Faith.

This is without a doubt one of the lowest points of Buffy vampire fighting career and proved more devastating when even Giles failed to back her up. He was scared and turned his back on her when she needed him most.

Season 1 is one of the weaker seasons of series, but "Nightmares" remains one of the more surreal episodes and a standout of the season. The episode sees everyone's nightmares become a reality, resulting in the gang being terrified and pursued by the thing they fear the most.

For Giles, this saw him confronted by the grave of Buffy, who he had failed as a Watcher. The tragic episode gave us an insight into the mind of Giles like nothing had before. This episode becomes more tragic in retrospect as this nightmare would soon become a reality.

Giles proved to have one of the most interesting and unexpected backstories of any character featured in the series. Despite presenting himself as a stuffy intellectual, in his youth, the truth couldn't have been more contradictory.

In season 2's "The Dark Age", we gained an insight into Giles' youth and learned that he dabbled with dark magic, gaining the nickname Ripper. This led to the death of one of his friends and saw Giles reform to become the man we know today. Giles' shady past is a side of his character we rather forget.

Season 5 saw Buffy face more deadly threats than ever before, as she went up against Glory, a literal God from a hell dimension. Glory also had the ability to transform into her human vessel, Ben.

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The season finale sees Glory defeated, but Ben still alive, meaning that Glory isn't really gone. Buffy refused to kill Ben, as he was human and it wasn't her way. The task then fell to Giles, who made the tough decision of killing Ben to prevent Glory's return.

Season 6 saw Buffy return from the dead to continue to never-ending fight against evil. She was less than jazzed by this prospect, becoming disillusioned and disconnected. She needed her friends more than ever, and leaned on her Watcher for support and guidance.

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But this was not what Giles wanted. He believed that Buffy should be taking more responsibility and should become more independent. This led to him leaving Sunnydale, and in turn Buffy. While this ultimately brought out the best in her, there's no doubt that this was pretty harsh and madefans dislike him.

Angelus is quite possibly the most evil vampire Buffy has ever encountered in her vampire-slaying-career. His twisted and sadistic sense of humor saw him exact torture on Buffy and her friends like no demon she had ever faced.

Knowing how close she was to Giles, this made him a prime target for torture. Giles was taken prisoner and subjected to both physical and psychological torture until he broke. This then led to Giles never being able to fully trust Angel, even after his soul had been restored.

Season 3's "Helpless" saw Buffy mysteriously begin to loose her powers right before her birthday. She was then forced to defeat a vampire in her weakened state to save Joyce. It proved to be Buffy's biggest challenge to date and required her to use all the skills she had acquired.

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However, it was revealed that Giles was behind her loss of power, and had been drugging her secretly. This was a task set to him the Watcher's Council, and left Buffy terrified and unable to trust him. His judgment was wrong and it remains theworst things Giles has ever done.

In one of the most tragic moments of the series, Jenny Calendar is brutally killed by Angelus. This left Giles heartbroken and led him to seek revenge on Angelus, which almost cost him life.

The rash and dangerous situation Giles finds himself in season 2's "Passion" saw Giles knocked unconscious and nearly killed. Jenny and he were close, and her death saw him broken like never before. Giles took a long time to grieve Jenny's death, and never truly got over it.

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Daniel is a writer based in the UK. He studied at the University of Sunderland and is a big fan of movies and tv.

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Buffy the Vampire Slayer: 5 Times We Felt Bad For Giles (& 5 Times We Hated Him) - Screen Rant

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