Humans in the Buffyverse

[Sternbeeere]

I have been rewatching some Buffy episodes and saw that often the scoobies equal humans with being good/innocent. Some things in the Buffyverse, like humans having a soul, support this hypothesis. Also the show presents us being human as the best thing there is, something to be protected at all costs: Thus Buffy is a hero, because she did not take the human life of Ben also developing human emotions is a sign of getting good, like in Illyrias case. Villains refer to humanity, when they do something, that appears good.
Yet, i have the idea that some of the most evil or morally ambivalent characters are humans: We have Warren, Kane, Gregor from the Knights of Byzantinum, who is very self-righteous, Quentin, who is partly disrespectful towards individual life, referring to Buffy, as a tool etc. This is kind of contradictory to me, and sometimes does not make sense.
What is your opinion on that matter ?

 

[Priceless]

Ths is one of the issues Buffy is constantly juggling with, that humans can be evil too. Or if not evil, then so incredibly selfish they do evil things, like Billy Fordham, who was happy to see his friends murdered so he could have eternal life. Buffy didn't live in a black and white world, and that's one of the things that made the show great.

The thing that seperated demons from the evil humans for Buffy is that the humans always had a choice. In many ways they are worse than demons, because it ws their choice to do morally questionable things.

 

[Athena]

I've always said that as far as I'm concerned, the biggest, more fearful big bad was always Warren, because he could be anyone in real life; the guy down the street, that guy you dismissed at a party.... he's frightening because he's human, not despite his being human. I think for a show like Buffy, it's important that this is the case. There has to be a morally grey line when it comes to humans, because not all demons/vampires depicted in the show are evil and you can't have it one way without the other. There has to be some moral equilibrium.

The show is fantasy, but it's deep rooted in reality. This is what makes Buffy so special as a TV show; the fact it's relatable.

 

[Sternbeeere]

Interestingly, Buffy and her friends, tend to be more baised on that topic, the same goes for some villains and that was what bothered me. It is however, often the case, in fantasy/vampire shows, humans are believed to be good by the protagonists and partly by narration, although they are not.

 

[Ethan Reigns]

One of the first kills Buffy makes in Season 1 is the zookeeper in "The Pact" and given her mandate of slaying the "vampires, demons and forces of darkness", she has no qualms about eliminating humans. In fact, Faith killing the deputy mayor could be considered a righteous kill since he was working for the mayor, definitely a force of darkness - it's too bad no one said that to her or she might not have gone over to the mayor's side. Yet we see demons like Clem and Lorne who really don't harm anyone and who are not harassed by any of the slayers.

 

[Sternbeeere]

One of the first kills Buffy makes in Season 1 is the zookeeper in "The Pact" and given her mandate of slaying the "vampires, demons and forces of darkness", she has no qualms about eliminating humans. In fact, Faith killing the deputy mayor could be considered a righteous kill since he was working for the mayor, definitely a force of darkness - it's too bad no one said that to her or she might not have gone over to the mayor's side. Yet we see demons like Clem and Lorne who really don't harm anyone and who are not harassed by any of the slayers.

It is those contradictions as well that are strange to me. Buffy did not want to kill Ben, although he was a part of Glory and therefore partly a force of darkness and she is called hero by Gilles for that. She would have been a "hero" if, she did not have killed much more innocent people, like the zookeeper, some knights of Byzantinum, who might also be a force of darkness, but Ben is the more so. Also Willow is not hated for having killed Warren, but Faith is for killing the deputy, who were both a dark force but human. Maybe in Faiths case, Buffy and the other scoobies were not fully aware of what the deputy was though.

 

[Bluebird]

The contradictory nature of good and evil is partly why I prefer Angel over Buffy. I think AtS handled it better. The attitude of Buffy (the show) can be a bit self righteous when it comes to its morals. Although I suppose it means when the show did do something like having Giles kill a human, it has more of an impact.

 

[sosa lola]

The contradictory nature of good and evil is partly why I prefer Angel over Buffy. I think AtS handled it better. The attitude of Buffy (the show) can be a bit self righteous when it comes to its morals. Although I suppose it means when the show did do something like having Giles kill a human, it has more of an impact.

I think it goes to the characters ages: BtVS has teenage characters and when it ended they were 22. They're still young.

AtS has a 200 and so year old character with adult characters. Of course it's gonna be maturer.