Character Evolution and Development

[Joan the Vampire Slayer]

A lot of talk goes on here regarding character "development" and "evolution" but I don't recall a thread specifically for discussion on this topic.

So, my question is - Buffy excluded for obvious reasons - Who do you think evolved the most as a character and why?

 

[BeerGood]

I don't know if its because she's one of my favourite characters, and so i paid more attention to what was going on with her than i did to what was going on with the other characters, but I think Willow "evolved" the most.
I mean, she went from completely innocent in seasons 1 and 2, to kick-ass in Dopplegangland, to exploring her sexuality in season 4, to evil in season 6 and a goddess in season 7.
From "geek" to goddess is the right type to evolution if you ask me.

 

[thevikingsgirl]

Oh no! I can't vote. Spike...Wesley...Spike...Wesley. My two favorites. I really can't choose. Honestly though, one thing I love so much about Buffy is that all the characters grow and change so much. I could pick whose arc I enjoyed most (Spike, easy), but who changed the most is a lot harder!

 

[Chris2]

I think Wesley changed the most. Willow and Spike both evolved a lot, but even by the end they still shared a lot with the person they started out as. Whereas compare Wesley from BtVS 3 with Wesley from AtS 4 - he's almost unrecognizable as what he used to be (and I don't mean that as a bad thing - his transformation felt entirely natural in my opinion).

 

[white avenger]

On Buffy's own show, I would say that it would be close between Spike and Willow, with Spike having a slight edge. (After all, he started out as a soulless monster and wound up a world-saving Champion. Willow started out as a shy geek and wound up a super she-witch. Granted, she tried to destroy the workd once, but she got better. Spike helped save the world 3 times)

On Angel's show, Cordy or Wes. Cordy went from a stuck up rich girl to a Higher Being, and Wes went from a bumbling junior Watcher to a formidable hero in need of a shave, and then wound up as an incorporeal servant of the Senior Partners.

 

[Flannen]

Faith for me.

The best redemption story of them all. She changed and evolved but never forgot that she had, which only made her stronger.

 

[Eleftheria]

Faith for sure. She has always been good, her greater motivation was to be accepted and be loved.(since her family never offered that). She has always been honest which I admire in her, and she has evolved in a great kick ass character who knows what is right and wrong cause she has seen both sides.

Wesley cause he evolved from a Watcher nerd to a hero who also made mistakes and has seen dark side.

Angel...from a dark,mysterious vampire who didn't like humans and kept brooding about his dark past, he evolved to a true Champion who has made his own mistakes but finally understands people and defends humans and their rights. It is also great that his greatest love motivated him to become a hero.

Spike...certainly evolved to a hero. Certainly he is a character full of surprises.

Cordy...NOW THAT'S A SURPRISE! From a shallow, rich, bitchy cheerleader to a true fighter, a hero.(season 4 excluded obviously!)

Will for all the reasons you people mentioned. Also a girl full of surprises.

 

[Emzzie]

I voted for Wesley. He started out a know-it-all nervous little clumsy man and turned into a rough around the edges, risk taking, badass guy.Seeing an episode like Spin the bottle shows you how much he as evolved. If you were to watch Buffy with him and then turn on season 5 or 4 of Angel, you'd not even recognize him.

 

[MinwaraYana]

Something made me vote Wesley. I can't choose between Wes, Faith or Cordy. But there's a Wesley choice so I go for it. 🙂

 

[Wishing Oceans]

I'd say Spike, Willow, Wesley, and Cordy.

In the very beginning, Spike was a lovesick poet. When he was sired, he stayed romantic, but he also became a killing machine. A couple hundred years later he got a chip in his head, and kept on killing, but this time he killed demons. Then he fell in love with a slayer and tried to become someone good to earn her love. He got himself a soul, got his girl to fall in love with him, and saved the world. After that he stopped saving people to impress Buffy, and instead did it because he knew it was the right thing to do. DEFINITELY evolved a lot. 😀

Willow began as an innocent, book- smart, sweet little girl who was hopelessly pining over her best friend, Xander. She doubted herself and didn't think she was anything special (as hinted in Wrecked: "who was I Buffy? Just some girl." ). As shown in Restless, she thought that she was weak and pathetic, and often tried to hide herself(Halloween). Over the next few years she started gaining more confidence and independence, started becoming her own person. She became stronger and started making more mature choices. In S6 she became extremely powerful, and the power almost corrupted her. Then in S7 she learned to harness that power and use it for white magic, which eventually turned her into a goddess. Needless to say, she evolved into a very powerful and beautiful woman, who WASN'T always hiding in the shadow of her Slayer best friend.

Wesley, Wesley, Wesley. He began as a slightly oblivious, bumbling, poncy young bloke. 😀 He was rather awkward, yet still incredibly intelligent. When he crossed over to Angel he matured and became darker, but was still kinda conceited. A couple years later, he was doing what he could for the "greater good", regardless the consequence. He turned nonchalant about killing, and was very tough. He died for his cause, and still to this day it's hard to tell what he believed in, exactly. 😀

Cordy's awesome. 😀 She started off as a spoiled, popular, arrogant "Queen Bee" girl. She only hung out with the "cool" kids, and made fun of the not so cool ones. A year later, her daddy lost all his money, and she was kicked out of her popular group for dating Xander. She befriended the Scoobies, and though was still overly honest, started acting a bit nicer, or at least more accepting. 🙂 When she moved onto Angel she became wiser and sweeter, but still retained that funny honesty thing, which is a good thing, because it makes her genuine. When she came back in You're Welcome she was a nice, heroic, champion, loving, loveable woman, who had matured into a gorgeous, respectable young woman. 😀

Honorable mentions go to Faith, Tara, Dawn, Darla, and Gunn... And also Lindsey and Lilah, they changed a lot. 😀

 

[Kana]

For me it's a toss up between Wes and Faith.

The reason being because, although my favourite character is Angel, it's Faith and Wesley's arc that rang the most true for me.

Wes

Wesley has always been someone he defined himself by his intellect and by his role. The reason he appeared the card board cut out of a Watcher is because his esteem was based upon that role. Of course as we know this was to do with his father who could not find any use for him. Due to his father only relating to him through that role, his only desire was to strive for the impossible expectation of the academic achieve that was supposedly expected of him.

His nervousness and ridiculousness was down the pressure of how to perform in the role of Watcher. Rather than using intuition and common sense, he adopts a 'walking textbook' persona. His lack of interpersonal skills often link in with his father reminding him of his failures. He then in turn adopts his father's pompous demeanour, spouting virtually useless knowledge (Spin the Bottle) or using virtual bully tactic and by the book methods to get the job done.

However, despite his lack of emotional maturity at the beginning, he was always someone who believed in right and wrong. Say what you will about Wes in Season 3 of Btvs but offering to help the gang after they ridiculed him was, in Cordy's words 'classy'.

All of this said, one of the things I like about the way Wes was written is the consistency. Along with insecurity, we get his ruthlessness. He often adopts his "˜utilitarian philosophy of fighting evil, which is one of his character themes that permeated throughout the show. The question regarding Wes is never "Is he good?" Or "What does he believe in?" it's more "What lengths will he go to achieve his ends?"

The interesting thing was that he was always competent, but is more confident in his abilities when he isn't trying so hard. Wesley most likely was just as skilled in Sunnydale but because he was trying almost too hard to be a Watcher, and in way suck up do Daddy, he didn't allow his skills to shine though.

Maturity is about self reflection and Wes had time for that outside the WC. He begins to see his self worth and this is notable in Guise Will Be Guise. When he assumes Angel's identity he does the things he could always do: hold his own in a fight, charm the girl and save the girl. He just needed to believe it. When Virginia notes how amazing he was, he seems surprised himself. If your told your never good enough, enough times, you begin to believe it. Wes needed to develop outside that influence.

While I'm not a big fan of Fresley in itself it's worth mentioning. Again Wes' insecurity allows Gunn to swoop in and get the girl. Also in Billy we see the part of Wes' insecurities with women. Although he never wanted to hurt Fred, I believe the things he was saying hold some truths. He's nervous around women because he finds trouble relating to them and understanding them. It expels him outside of the comfort zone of academia and he doesn't know how to act.

In Season 3 Ats, with the whole, Connor thing, matters became a little worse. Wes' culpability was in trusting books and prophecies over his friends and intuition. His rejection from the group places him in a bitter place but it allows his the chance to develop his skills in a different arena. As he says to Gunn because unlike Charlie boy and Angel, he doesn't have muscle to fall back on so he relies of knowledge of anatomy, his WC training and again his intellect.

I believe his relationship with Lilah (which so delicious, I'll maybe dedicate a thread to it) was firstly to do with self loathing and degradation (not unlike Season 6 Spuffy.) but it turned into something more. It's not just about holding hands.

Of course I could talk about his existential angst after losing Fred. Again for someone "always knows where he is" he is lost because his world of logic and intellect ceases to have any meaning without the woman he loves.

In short what I loved is that Wes' development is wasn't so linear, there are bumps and groves which is true to life. Some say that Wes grew and then regressed but you know? He's a story about a tragic hero who changed dramatically but still developed with amazing realism. It was a journey with no clear destination but with not without meaning and hope.

Faith

There is two words I have for you: Broken sorority.

Anyway. Faith is someone who has impulse control issues but she's an enthusiastic Slayer. She tries to get past the fact that Buffy is still holding on to her birth right. We get hints of neglect or abuse in her childhood, which is most likely why she generally hates herself and so much of her esteem his rooted in Slaying.

Also due to her experience, he has little trust reserved for others and this explains her cynicism when it comes to romantic relationships. Like Lindsay, because she's experienced a life she cannot control, she embraces the power she does have.

A matter of perspective? Buffy sees Faith as out of control and wild, while Faith sees Buffy has judgemental and "˜holier than thou'.

Her seduction to the dark side is as much as rationalizing her actions and needing acceptance, which she gets from the Mayor.

Her relationship with Buffy is interesting because they begin to see the world from each others eyes. Buffy awakens her sense of morality or at least living in her world does and Buffy understands the primal predatory nature of being a slayer, (BvD) something Faith tapped into along time ago.

Angel's sympathy demonstrated an altruism that she never knew existed. It parallels with Angel's own cynicism. He wasn't just a bad guy he didn't believe that people were worth saving or could be saved. By extension, how can he be saved? Faith's wanting death, was an attempt to escape not only the pain of guilt but loneliness and the rage that comes with it.

This is the same rage that Angelus attempts to bring out in Season 4 Ats. Before she adopted a master Slave morality to hide her past feelings of powerlessness. However she is about finding inner strength believing that it's about salvation of others souls and one's own soul in the process (counting Wes' doing whatever it takes tack).

Even if she didn't end up with Wood, she also realized (and we hope Buffy gets to this too) that loneliness is not the only route for a Slayer.

That's all. A little life lesson"” One to grow on. Knowing... knowing is half the"¦

 

[Edd1e]

I've watched all Buffy, and the first season of Angel.

Spike definitely developed the most of all the characters on Buffy. So many different stages.

I'm looking forward to seeing how Wesley goes on Angel!

 

[racheltng]

Cordelia came to mind immediately, so I voted "other." I HATED her in season 1 of Buffy (loved to hate her, actually, because she pulled off her role so well). She was the quintessential selfish, self-centered popular girl who had nothing going for her except her looks. By the end of Angel season 3, her focus had completely shifted to furthering her own self interests to saving the world. It's hard to discuss her in season 4 because she was actually Jasmine, which is weird. Season 5 of Angel was great but could have been even better is she was there.

 

[The Ferg]

I don't think Wesley really "evolved" that much. It was kind of a sudden shift for him between one character and another.
I voted for Spike. He just changed so much throughout the series. Big Bad->Heart-broken loser->Chipped Spike->Souled Spike->Ghost Spike->Heroic Spike->ATF Spike.

 

[ToShanshuInLA]

Kana said it quite well about both Wes and Faith. I'd have to give my picks to Wesley and Cordelia though.

 

[white avenger]

Andrew, without a doubt. He went from arch super villain and evil super sorcerer in Season 6 to a super hero capable of defeating the First Evil (Buffy, Spike, and the others helped a little with that, but Andrew really saved the day) in Season 7. Another season, and he would have undoubtedly had his own series, possibly with Faith and Dawn as costars. He couldn't have stayed on Buffy's show much longer, because he was so dynamic and heroic that he would have completely overshadowed all of the other characters there.

 

[TheGrandmaster]

I don't understand why Faith didn't have an option on here :L I would have voted for her.

 

[Wishing Oceans]

Ok, after MUCHa consideration... I'm gonna have to go with Wes and Darla, indefinitely. 🙂

Spike evolved, sure. But it wasn't actually THAT drastic, it was all pretty IC. Like, his entire personality didn't change. In fact, it stayed the same through most of the show. The only difference was he fell in love with Buffy, which made him the SG's whipping boy instead of the Fang Gang's. So, really, not that huge of a change.

But Wesley... Every aspect of him just kept on changing and changing. Wes has to be one of the best characters ever, really, he has so many layers and personalities. I just love him. 😀

 

[Tome]

Wesley, period.

No character changed so much as that you have troubles recognizing him when you compare him in Bad Girls and then one of the last episodes of Angel. Amazing character development!

 

[Karol]

Oh crap, I don´t know which one to vote... They all evolved so much! But I think I´ll go with Wesley.
I have a feeling that Spike was always the same, like, he just learned to show more of his soft side LOL after all he started doing poetry and finished doing the same thing lol

Beside almost all of you I wouldn´t vote for Cordelia... I think she didn´t developed... they simply changed her character. She was developing on season 1, showing some differente side... season 2, the same... but then they just swift, changed her all the sudden... it was sad.