Big Bads in Buffy and Why We Love Them

One of the amazing things about Joss Whedon is the three-dimensionality of all of his characters. They are fairly consistent, multi-faceted, and most all of them can be related to by some subset of viewers. In particular, the Big Bads have certainly been more interesting than most Big Bads on other shows, in my experience. First off, then, a list of the Big Bads (as seen at the end of the season seven premiere):
Season 1: The Master
Season 2: Drusilla (Angelus/Spike)
Season 3: The Mayor (Faith)
Season 4: Adam (The Initiative)
Season 5: Glory
Season 6: Warren Mears (The Trio)
Season 7: The First (Caleb)

The Master, I will admit, doesn’t seem to have much going for him in terms of relateability. He’s gross-looking (fruit-punch mouth!), evil, and generally unlikeable. But let’s keep in mind that season one was a very straightforward period of Buffy, when there was little-to-no story arc that continued between episodes, and many issues were black-and-white. Joss hadn’t yet really started to explore all of the gray issues that don’t have clear good-vs-evil or right-or-wrong dichotomies.

Drusilla, Spike, and Angelus, on the other hand, are definitely much more interesting. The relationship that Drusilla and Angel have makes them just like any other couple, which obviously makes them accessible to fans. They’re crazy in love (and a little crazy, to boot), and their story is just like any other love story, similar to Bonnie and Clyde. Angelus/Angel, of course, are sympathetic characters, because we’ve gotten to know Angel and we know how much Angel cares for Buffy, while Angelus’ instinct to destroy that which was most dear to Angel is also a very common reaction; people try to hide their weaknesses from the world, and what better way to do that than by wiping all traces of those weaknesses from existence? After all, destroying one’s perceived weaknesses makes one stronger, right?

The Mayor and Faith also had a close relationship. Sure, the Mayor’s evil, no question, but he cared for Faith like no one else did. He left the magic gizmo for her, gave her an apartment, interrupted his all-important dark ritual because she was in trouble, etc. She was the only one he lost his temper over. She trusted him, and he was her father figure. The father-daughter relationship, or more generally, parent-child relationship, is one that people can definitely relate to.

Adam is literally a conglomerate constructed from many different sources. His naivete appeals to our sense of curiosity, and part of us wishes that we could go around taking part interesting things just to learn about them, like he does. However amoral he is, we remember that he is, in a way, a product of the Initiative, and a representation of all of their victims (the demons and people sacrificed to create him). He is only doing what he was programmed to do, as a lost child of sorts; he considered Maggie to be his mother, and when she died and he didn’t have anyone to guide him, he turned the wrong way. He was supposed to be a prodigy, and with the right guidance, he could’ve been that. I guess, in the end, he’s fairly monstrous and not so sympathetic, but he does have the naivete of a lost child, and his unfortunate circumstances are something to pity him for. And for Frankenstein fans, Adam is awesome, of course.

Glory had the girly thing going for her, and who doesn’t love a little bit of crazy? More seriously, though, all she wants is to go home (never mind if she unleashes hell on Earth in the process). She also has her counterpart, Ben, who is irrefutably human. They have some sort of odd relationship that I might call parent-child-like, because he is, in a sense, her guardian. And she is, of course, the childish bitch who absolutely needs to get her way lest she throw a fit and eat some brains.

Warren, Jonathan, and Tucker’s brother (er, I mean, Andrew ^_~): they definitely call out to the geeky, nerdy misfits in us. Jonathan had his earlier spotlights in “Earshot” and “Superstar,” while Warren had a spotlight in “I Was Made To Love You,” and we got to know Andrew throughout season seven. Seeing their paths to or from wrongdoing really allowed us to empathize with them. All they wanted, after all, was some recognition of their awesomeness as geeks/nerds. We always knew, though, that they were out of their depth as bad guys, which made them all the more pitiful. Warren was the power-hungry one, Jonathan was the one who just wanted to fit in, and Andrew was the poor kid who went along with whomever he thought was cool (in this case, Warren). Warren’s (near-)death and his terror leading up to that moment almost make you feel sorry for him (although not quite, perhaps), Jonathan’s continued abuse that he puts up with definitely causes “aww” moments, and Andrew’s story in season seven, especially in “Storyteller,”  shows what a scared little kid he really is on the inside, which is something he shares with so many of us.

(A short mention of Dark Willow: she just lost her love. Heartbreak, rage, desperation, non-understanding of why, sense of being lost…and honestly, who can resist yellow-crayon-breaky Willow?)

Finally, we’ve arrived at The First. The First is, first of all, awesome. Literally. How can anyone imagine such a primordial source of evil? Seeing The First take Buffy’s form, though, really brings out the similarities between the two, which gives The First some qualities that resonate with viewers. And Caleb…he’s the crazy, but the kind that we’re familiar with: a super-conservative radical.

In the end, though, I’m not sure that I can do the Big Bads justice with this post. Partly because I feel like more thought could be put into it, but more because you have to watch the episodes to understand the little quirks that make them special to us. Unfortunately, I would never actively push people to watch Buffy/Angel, because the time consumed is simply too great of a commitment to make. I will merely continue to passively comment on this-or-that aspect of buffyverse, and leave the decision to you….