Character Ages

[deird_lj]

Okay, lavastar, you've got me interested now...

A two-question poll for everyone:

[Poll #1433659]



Questions? Comments?

Comments

[ms-scarletibis.livejournal.com]

I guessed twenty-three because...well she was a prostitute in the 1600s, dying of syphyllis, so she couldn't have been that old. In fact, she could have even been younger...

[snickfic]

I guessed 17 for Faith because she's presumably younger than Buffy, but man, it can't be by much. I consistently forget that she's supposed to be the younger of the two, because of that worldly-wise shtick she pulls all the time.

[next_to_normal]

Same here.

As for Darla, I really have no idea. I'm kind of horrible at guessing ages, especially on TV where the actors are often several years older than their character's supposed to be. She looks to me like she's mid-twenties, but who knows.

[deird1]

It is really hard guessing TV characters' ages, IMO. Especially when they vary so much from the ages of the actors.

[gabrielleabelle.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I didn't even guess on Darla. I'm horrible at just looking at someone and guessing their age.

[rahirah]

Ditto. I always see Faith as the older of the two.

[fangfaceandrea.livejournal.com]

really? Faith always reminded me of those girls who try too hard to act older than they are by smoking/drinking/sexing etc. I've always thought she was younger than Buffy.

[quinara]

I think Darla was young, young, young - hit puberty maybe around 10 (probably orphaned) and living as a prostitute ever since. I suppose they might have brought prostitutes over on ships (as a disgusting 'resource' of some description), but it feels more sensible to me that she was either a young child on the trip over or born in the colony (and then came upon hard times). She wouldn't have had much time to grow up.

Also, it makes sense with Angel's skeevy attraction to Buffy. ;)

[gabrielleabelle.livejournal.com]

Huh. I always figured Faith to be older than Buffy. After all, she never goes through the Cruciamentum and her attending high school doesn't ever seem to be considered (which you'd think it would get a mention if she were high school age). So I put her at 19.

[deird1]

Yeah, but does she not go through Cruciamentum because she's too old for it, or because she's in a coma when she turns 18? :)

[gabrielleabelle.livejournal.com]

True point. Though it would still be odd to me that she would be 17 and never have anybody ever mention, "Hey, why isn't Faith in school?" I can totally buy that she dropped out of high school. I just have trouble thinking that nobody ever commented on it.

[stormwreath.livejournal.com]

her attending high school doesn't ever seem to be considered

"Oh, school thing. I was kinda absent that decade." - Faith to Robin in 'Touched'. Faith was a drop-out, assuming she ever really dropped in in the first place.

We do see her looking at books a couple of times - or at least comic books - but I always wondered just how literate she really was. She can definitely read in S7, though, because she's helping Buffy with research - maybe she took adult literacy course in prison?

[gabrielleabelle.livejournal.com]

Well, yeah. But if she were under 18 in S3, surely one of the Scoobies or the adults would make some comment about how she should go back to school.

[next_to_normal]

I would think, if Faith had gone through the Cruciamentum and survived, surely she'd tell Buffy about it. Since Buffy clearly has no idea in "Helpless," I think it's safe to say that didn't happen.

I also don't think it's very likely that any Slayers are called after age 18. If a Slayer can be called at 19, then the Cruciamentum doesn't do the Council much good. They've been around long enough to have a pretty good idea of the over/under for Age Called, so if they put the test at 18, I'd say pretty much all Slayers are called before then.

[gabrielleabelle.livejournal.com]

True, though I'm not so sure on the age restriction there. Nikki appeared older than 18, and it's unlikely she survived more than a few years as a Slayer. I don't know that the Powers work like that. I'd imagine that an older Slayer may be rare, but possible. The Council would likely try to get rid of them some other way, perhaps, since an older Slayer would be less likely to obey them (as...does actually happen with Faith).

[stormwreath.livejournal.com]

Faith was born on 30 December 1980, making her 20 days older than Buffy. She was therefore 17 during 'Faith, Hope and Trick' and turned 18 after 'Amends' but before 'Gingerbread'.

Or at last, that's my fanon. ;-) (And it was the date I used for her epitaph in 'Hell's Heart'.) FHT calls her "18ish" in its opening description of her. 30/12/80 is in fact Eliza Dushku's real birthday, and she actually was 17 when they made that episode - three years younger than Sarah Michelle Gellar's real age, but the same age Buffy was actually supposed to be at the time.

Likewise, Julie Benz was 28 when they were filming 'Angel' Season 2, which is pretty much my definitive "look" for her. The Master called Darla "A woman of some property. No husband, no inheritance." I'd actually hazard a guess that she was a young widow (the early colonies had a very high death rate) who turned to prostitution to support herself after her husband died.

[lavastar.livejournal.com]

I...for all that I provoked this, I have no idea. *g* I find it terribly interesting, though!

I'd say Faith is EITHER 17 or 18. Or possibly 19. Who knows which, an argument could be made for either.

Darla? I agree with Stephen, probably on the late-20s side, cause of appearance and the Mater quote.

[deird1]

Well, you've been responsible for the most popular poll-discussion I've ever had on my LJ!

Every time I open my email to read a new comment, it updates with yet another new comment - so I keep having this endless stream of unread emails.
Happy now?

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

As the only woman in the colonies within a decade of the date stamp given in 'Darla' was described in manifests as "a woman of means" (I know. Silly me thinking that ME looked up any history) along with the way that she seems to have lived a *ahem* 'full' life, I had assumed that Darla wasn't 'young' in seventeenth century terms. Of course she couldn't be too old, either, which is why I chose 24.

[libco.livejournal.com]

Nothing to add that hasn't already been said but I call Faith at around 18 and Darla in here early 20's. Great post BTW.

[nwhepcat.livejournal.com]

In my personal fanon, at least for one story, Faith is over 18, and the incident with Kakistos when her watcher dies is the Cruciamentum.

[peroxidepirate.livejournal.com]

Hmmmm... That's a very realistic possibility.

I always thought Faith was a year or so younger than Buffy, but that's probably just because was played by a younger actress and therefore looks younger. Which doesn't make any difference to canon.

[lavastar.livejournal.com]

WHOA. That's AWESOME zomg.

[brutti-ma-buoni.livejournal.com]

Now that I think about it, I've no basis at all for thinking Faith is younger than Buffy - except I vaguely assumed they were chosen pretty much in age order. But there's no reason for that to be the case and it's pretty much not canon when you look at the references to Kennedy et al - it looks a lot more random.

The Cruciamentum at 18 does seem to indicate virtually all Slayers are called before 18 - otherwise why bother? I really like the Kakistos-as-Cruciamentum idea above, though it makes that damn test worse if Faith had only had her powers a few weeks before it.

As for Darla, if it's worth The Master's time saying she has no husband, that makes her over 20 in my book (though I appreciate the comment is also about where she gets her money from). I know there's a view of the past where we imagine child marriage to be quite normal, but the average age for women to marry in England tended to be around 25-28 over a long period - hence, Darla's verging on the age when most women marry and she isn't. The fact she can supposedly pass for a schoolgirl (albeit a slightly aged one) tends to make me think she's under 25.

Phew.

[howdey.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that Faith is a month older than Buffy, so I'm sticking with that.