Buffy's feelings toward Faith

[Chosen Enemy]

In season 3 Buffy didn't really like Faith ever since she arrived town. I don't know if she didn't exactly 'like' her, but there were some negative feelings toward her. Why was that exactly? Jealousy? Faith was annoying in her personality which was completely different from Buffy's? Competition over her friends, family, slayerhood... her life in general? From the start Faith was cool with Buffy. Yeah, she was jealous of her for everything she had in life, but overall she was nice to Buffy (at least it started that way). What's up with Buffy?

 

[Professor Walsh]

My two cents? I think she felt threatened both by the fact that there was another slayer in town and by Faith's style/attitude.

Faith: God, I could eat a horse. Isn't it crazy how slaying just always makes you hungry and horny?
Buffy: Well... Sometimes I-I crave a nonfat yogurt afterwards

 

[mayfever]

I'm gonna go all Psych 101 on you and say Buffy didn't like Faith because she saw an awful lot of herself in her, particularly a side of herself that she didn't like very much. I think the show experimented a lot with that kind of butterfly effect thing, introducing characters that present versions of other characters in different circumstances. That is why we have Kendra (Buffy with a stricter watcher and no social circle), Faith (Buffy without her upbringing and moral grounding) and Dawn (Buffy without her powers).

Faith was pretty much the darker side of Buffy, and the two of them didn't get on before Buffy learnt to accept and embrace that part of herself.

Faith, on the other hand, desperately wanted to be accepted and loved by Buffy, and her resentment against these feelings (after all, she very much liked to see herself as strong and independent) caused her to resent Buffy. I'm also thinking that she might have been slightly attracted to her in a sexual way, but that might just be me.

 

[Lyri]

With Kendra, Buffy knew that, eventually, she would go back to her Watcher and leave Sunnydale to Buffy. With Faith, she had no such guarantee. And her worst fear was realized when the Council decided Faith should stick around.

I think it was mostly the fact that Buffy thought that Faith was taking over a lot. She was getting along with her friends, her mother, her Watcher, her fries, and she was a better Slayer than Kendra was. Buffy was confident in the fact that she could take Kendra, but she didn't know if she could take Faith. They were on a much more even footing as far as personality went, and I think Buffy just felt more than a little threatened.

 

[TheVoid68]

I think it's a threefold cause:

1) Faith threatened to take Buffy's place in her social circle. She got on well with her friends and mother, flirted with the boy that liked Buffy - she even posed a threat to her job as a slayer. Normally, Buffy wouldn't be so insecure, but she literally just got back from being estranged in LA for several months and was trying to put her life back together. She was aware that her relationship with her friends and family was strained, she wanted to repair that, and she saw Faith as a threat to that.

2) Buffy could see a lot of herself in Faith, and that scared her. She saw a darkness in Faith, and new it was the same darkness that resided in her.

3) I know a lot of you won't agree with this one, but I do believe that Buffy felt a romantic/sexual attraction towards Faith. That's just how I read it. This made Buffy nervous for three reasons: a) the simple fact that it was a girl she was attracted to, b) the fact that it was Faith, a dangerous, reckless, borderline-psychopath and c) it was a few months after she killed the man she loved - obviously she is going to feel some guilt over having feelings for someone else, like she's betraying Angel. Because of all this, Buffy tried to push Faith away and deny her feelings.

 

[white avenger]

I think that there were several reasons fr Buffy's feelings toward Faith. First off, she felt her space invaded by an outsider. Secondly, she felt that her friends were actually showing more interest in the new girl that in her. Third, while she had been quite confident in her superiority as a Slayer over Kendra, Faith was much closer to being her match. But I think that, above and beyond all of that, Buffy was just a bit, or maybe more than a bit, jealous of Faith's passion, enthusiasm, and her sheer passion for whatever she did. She just seemed to always have fun, whether she was fighting demons, dancing in the Bronze, or dragging Xander off to her room for a little heated discussion. As proof of that, just look at how she acted with Spike in Season 6. The passion, the fire, the mindless sex, all of that was pure Faith, and I think that Buffy was trying to be exactly that: the Slayer who could feel such fire and passion for what she was doing that nothing else mattered. She was treating Spike exactly the way that Faith treated Xander: quick, sweaty sex, then out the door.

 

[thunderhawk86]

I think the biggest reason is that Faith was free. Faith didn't have to go to school and deal with teacher's and snyder. Faith didn't have a mother pressuring her to give up her calling. Buffy listened to her watcher for the most part, faith did it her own way. Buffy was punished for fighting the good fight when her parents institutionalized her.

Buffy has always been trapped. Balancing school, slaying, and a social life. No matter where she was she was always being dogged. At home- her mom, at school Snyder, while slaying Giles. Plus what was the point of school for Buffy? She could never have a great job because of the slaying.

Buffy was grateful for everything she had, but Faith had the one thing she lacked. Freedom. Because of who she is as a person, she could never get that at this point in her life.

 

[LondonDude]

I think Buffy probably saw Faith as a rival. She probably thought that Faith would take Buffy's friends and that Faith was the better slayer than her. That Faith seemed to enjoyed slaying than Bufffy herself.

Also like thunderhawk86 said, Faith was carefree and that Faith did things her own way. Faith didn't have to go to school and didnt have to deal with family issues.

 

[Icarium]

2) Buffy could see a lot of herself in Faith, and that scared her. She saw a darkness in Faith, and new it was the same darkness that resided in her.

I really, really doubt that.

With Kendra, Buffy knew that, eventually, she would go back to her Watcher and leave Sunnydale to Buffy. With Faith, she had no such guarantee. And her worst fear was realized when the Council decided Faith should stick around.

Worst fear? Having another Slayer to take over Sunnydale was a godsend for Buffy. She was initially annoyed by Faith because the latter seemed to enjoy Slaying too much and take it too lightly but after Buffy learned about Kakistos she was perfectly okay with Faith until Bad Girls. Well, apart from Revelations there but the misunderstanding in it wasn't because Buffy was threatened by Faith or anything like that. She was just worried about Faith usurping her place for like a day, the same thing happened when Kendra came to Sunnydale.

 

[Skanky Vamp]

Dearest Lyri, none have commented on this so I feel obligated. In fact, truth be told, I am having a really horrible day. And your post brought a nice little smile. I almost laughed out loud to that last line. You deadpanned it well. Kudos.

She was getting along with her friends, her mother, her Watcher, her fries