Character Growth

[sosa lola]

Buffy:

In Touched Buffy tells Spike that "being the slayer always made her different, but it's her fault she stays that way." She stated that "people always tried to connect with her but she just pushed them away." Buffy has clearly taken this on board and has tried to change her behaviour;

- When she feels disconnected in A Beautiful Sunset she actually TELLS somebody! This is kinda huge for Buffy. Rather than stew in her own misery she talks to Xander about it and opens up.

- Satsu tries to connect with her and Buffy wants it. Yes the Buffy/Satsu relationship can be problematic and there was some "two way advantaging going on" but Buffy wanted to find a connection. She did not push Satsu away.

- Delegating her leadership with her friends. In S7 Buffy took it upon herself to be the sole leader of the potentials but here she trusts others to work with her.

- Developing a solid rapport with her slayers. In S7 Buffy shut herself off and appeared unlikeable to the Potential Slayers. In S8 she's struck the right balance between being friendly with them whilst still earning their respect.

- Rather than hide behind an ice queen persona (like she did in Get It Done) Buffy shows her feelings over Aiko's death and lets Willow comfort her.


Xander:

- Xander as a leader, finally in a more useful role, and he's doing a good job at it.

- Xander training himself to become a better fighter as shown in #6. On the show, he taught himself how to use the bow, and since it's hard to use now what with the whole one eye thing, he's learning something else. To be honest, that's what he should have done in the show if he wanted to be one of the Scoobies.

- In #4, Willow had been kidnapped by Amy, the portal leading to the government can only take two, now if this is S1 through S6, Xander would have jumped into that portal with Buffy without a question, instead he asked Buffy to pick the strongest ally. Buffy was shocked, expecting that Xander would have accompanied her, but he wisely told her that he was not a fighter and Willow must be saved.

- Xander being able to resist Dracula's thrall, since only someone who has a strong sense of self can do so.

- Xander becoming somewhat buddies with a vampire. It started in S7 with Xander's attitude changing towards Spike, becoming more objective than subjective as well as trusting Buffy's decisions with him. Selfless was the start, and S8 continued that character development.

- Xander rejecting Buffy because he's in love with Dawn. He finally moved on, that's a major character growth, even though I believe he'd moved on long ago.


Dawn:

- She knew that all the transformations she went through were punishment, and owned up to cheating on her boyfriend. (Personally, I'm against Kenny's punishement, and I think it's abusive, but I just pointed this out because some fans keep saying that the Scoobies never face the consequences of their actions, and I just wanna say, there you have it.)

- Dawn making use of her situation to save the day.


I'm not so invested in Faith and Andrew to dig up their character growth, even though there's plenty of it.

My question is: do you have more character growth moments for Buffy, Xander, Willow, Dawn, Giles, Faith and Andrew?

 

[Don]

They totally jumped ship on Robin Wood.

 

[sosa lola]

Willow:

- Realising that she really does want a normal life, and even to have children some day? But she's not sure she ever can, because of what she's turned herself into.

- Her view of stealing has come a long way since 'Triangle' in Season 5, as well.

- Her self-confidence has returned since Season 7, too.

- Letting go of Tara and finally trying to move on emotionally. "Goddesses and Monsters" shows incredible growth for Willow.


Dawn:

- Learning she doesn't need to be the center of attention (Giant)

- Using her power for good, accepting her sexuality (centaur)

- Saving herself (Doll) and being honest and accepting of her own faults, admitting to her own guilt.

 

[white avenger]

One thing that I noticed was the difference in Buffy's reaction to her first night with the two lovers, a soulless vampire and another girl, neither of whom everyone else would have expected her to have. With Spike: "If you EVER tell anyone about this, I WILL END YOU!" and Satsu: "I'll think about it, and I'll blush, and I'll smile." (neither of those are exact quotes) as well as the way that, according to Spike, she never stayed with him afterward, but she tells Satsu that she doesn't have to leave, that they could, assumedly, cuddle and whisper, and giggle together for the rest of the night. She has finally learned how to treat a lover. No more "Slam, bam, thank you, ma'am."

 

[sosa lola]

One thing that I noticed was the difference in Buffy's reaction to her first night with the two lovers, a soulless vampire and another girl, neither of whom everyone else would have expected her to have. With Spike: "If you EVER tell anyone about this, I WILL END YOU!" and Satsu: "I'll think about it, and I'll blush, and I'll smile." (neither of those are exact quotes) as well as the way that, according to Spike, she never stayed with him afterward, but she tells Satsu that she doesn't have to leave, that they could, assumedly, cuddle and whisper, and giggle together for the rest of the night. She has finally learned how to treat a lover. No more "Slam, bam, thank you, ma'am."

Excellent point! Buffy/Satsu while not so perfect at least had Buffy treating Satsu gently, unlike with Spike.