Parallel Personalities in Buffy and Angel

[deird_lj]

 

I’ve been watching Angel season 4 recently.

 

And I was thinking about the characters, and their similarities to various characters on BtVS, and I found myself thinking “of course, Wesley is the AtS equivalent of Giles.”

But he’s not.

 

Oh, professionally speaking he is: they’re both Watchers. But it gets much more interesting when you start comparing the characters’ personal relationships.

Especially their relationship to the main character.

 

Looking at BtVS season 7 and AtS season 4, the characters on one show each have an equivalent on the other show, with almost exactly the same story arc and the same relationship to the main character.

 

This is all starting to be a bit confusing and wordy, so I’ll give you some examples.

 
* * * * *

 

The Hero

 

This is, of course, Buffy. Or Angel, depending on what show you’re on. The Hero is the story’s protagonist, and gets an entire tv show named after them because they’re just that cool.

 

The Hero is also the group’s centre. If they weren’t there, the supporting cast would not be doing what they’re doing.

 

The Best Friend

 

Willow on one show, Wesley on the other.

 

This person is the closest friend of The Hero. Or they were, anyway.

Then they betrayed The Hero. Willow brought Buffy back to life against her will, and Wes kidnapped Connor.

 

After betraying The Hero, they went dark. Different degrees of darkness (flaying as opposed to keeping slave girls in closets), but still similar enough that they ended up discussing their similarities during Orpheus.

 

The Best Friend is a really big nerd, but works at maintaining the façade of being hardcore. They’re also the brains of the group. (You could, of course, argue that Giles is the brains of the Scooby Gang, but he lines up with someone else in this essay. And, for that matter, Fred could give Wes a run for his money. We’re not talking brainpower so much as group role.)

 

The Guide

 

Giles. Or Lorne.

The Guide is one of The Hero’s main sources of advice. He’s always given pretty good guidance. But lately, due to circumstances beyond his control (having hundreds of Potentials to take care of / people doing weird spells), his advice has been less than helpful, and has led to bad stuff, like Spike and Wood coming to blows, or releasing Angelus.

 

The Quirky Scientist

 

The Fang Gang person, of course, is Fred.

The other? Is Anya.

No, she’s not exactly a traditional scientist. But bear with me.

 

The Scientist has a lot of knowledge about a lot of weird stuff. She has a fair amount of experience with other dimensions. And her knowledge is generally quite useful for The Best Friend. Fred and Wesley spend most of season 4 researching things together, and Anya, if you remember, is the one who helps Willow figure out how to get Buffy back from the Shadowmen.

 

The Scientist has a fairly quirky way of talking.

She also gets Willow to flirt with her (Anya in Same Time, Same Place, Fred in Orpheus).

 

And finally? Early in the season, The Scientist takes vengeance on someone she hates. And then wishes she never had.

 

The Zeppo

 

Remember Mr I’m-Just-The-Muscle Gunn? He’s the AtS equivalent of Xander.

 

The Zeppo is really good at what he does, but compared to the rest of the team… he spends a lot of time feeling inadequate.

 

He is the second-closest friend of The Hero.

 

And, The Scientist used to be his girlfriend. And even though he still loves her, they’ve broken up.

The reason they’ve broken up, in fact, is mostly because The Zeppo decided to do “what was best” for them, without giving The Scientist any say in the matter.

 

The Lover

 

Tara on one show, Lilah on the other.

 

The Lover is The Best Friend’s girlfriend. Earlier on, they’d broken up. And she’d only returned to the main storyline for a couple of episodes before she was killed.

 

The Best Friend hasn't quite finished dealing with this tragedy yet.

 

The Child

 

Three guesses who this one is.

 

Dawn and Connor both play the role of The Hero’s child. And neither of them would have existed at all if it weren’t for something mystical.

 

The Child really wants to work with The Hero, and The Hero is currently encouraging them to learn (Buffy by training Dawn to stake vampires, Angel by… well, by kicking Connor out of the hotel and letting him fend for himself. But watch The House Always Wins, and tell me Angel isn't wanting to train Connor again.).

 

The Child has had a tough time of things, and The Hero is really eager to “show them the world” so that they can see all the lovely stuff that’s waiting for them (compare the letter in End Of Days with Angel’s actions in Home).

The Hero will do anything for them.

 

The Child was once kidnapped by The Hero’s arch-nemesis (Glory, and Holtz).

 

They’re called “The Destroyer”. (Connor is, obviously. But if you recall, Dawn referred to herself as “destroyer of the universe” in Spiral.)

 

Also? The Child can be… kinda whiny.

 

The Ghost

 

This is season 7/season 4, remember. And our resident ghosts are Joyce and Darla.

 

The Ghost appears to The Child (who is actually her child), with advice. And she’s all glowy and serene.

 

And finally…

 

The Truthful Love Interest

 

Spike and Cordelia.

The love interest of The Hero.

 

They are quite well known for having no concept of tact, and for speaking truth to The Hero, even when no-one else will.

 

At the end of the previous season, The Love Interest went all glowy (either through being re-ensouled, or by floating off to a higher plane).

Then, this season, they returned with some severe mental problems.

 

The Love Interest slept with someone else – and was, unbeknownst to them, seen by The Hero.

 

And, although they have no idea, The Love Interest is currently under the control of someone else, and is acting as an unwitting traitor.

* * * * * 

 

So, there you have it. My shiny list of equivalents across the two shows.

In summary,

 

Buffy = Angel

Willow = Wesley

Giles = Lorne

Anya = Fred

Xander = Gunn

Tara = Lilah

Dawn = Connor

Joyce = Darla

Spike = Cordelia

 

 

Questions? Comments?

(For the tl;dr crowd: Joss is plagiarising his own shows, or something...)

Comments

[deird1]

Thanks!

Tara=Lilah kind of surprised me, too.