If Faith had arrived in Sunnydale first

Samuel Reyes

Samuel Reyes

Chilling in SunnyD
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How would the show be different if Faith had arrived in Sunnydale first and Buffy was the third slayer to be called?
 
Samuel Reyes said:
How would the show be different if Faith had arrived in Sunnydale first and Buffy was the third slayer to be called?
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Take it you mean Faith still with the troubled up bringing? If so then I guess she still might have had some of those same traits we saw in her, and over time they would have rubbed people up the wrong way. No question things could have been much smoother for her though. Her first day would have been very different from Buffy's not sure I could see her hanging out with Cordy. Think she would hit it off with Giles quicker than Buffy, but then overtime there would be issues. Its possibly that she may have gone after Xander at this point, meaning that her and Willow had issues. Of course Willow and Xander would not have formed the Scoobies with Faith, but I could see her forming her own gang, maybe with Jonathan and Amy as members (see what I did there?😀), she would walk all over Flutie, and still would clash with Snyder like Buffy did. Except I don't see a Faith/Snyder feud being quite so much fun.
 
Mr Trick said:
Take it you mean Faith still with the troubled up bringing? If so then I guess she still might have had some of those same traits we saw in her, and over time they would have rubbed people up the wrong way. No question things could have been much smoother for her though. Her first day would have been very different from Buffy's not sure I could see her hanging out with Cordy. Think she would hit it off with Giles quicker than Buffy, but then overtime there would be issues. Its possibly that she may have gone after Xander at this point, meaning that her and Willow had issues. Of course Willow and Xander would not have formed the Scoobies with Faith, but I could see her forming her own gang, maybe with Jonathan and Amy as members (see what I did there?😀), she would walk all over Flutie, and still would clash with Snyder like Buffy did. Except I don't see a Faith/Snyder feud being quite so much fun.
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Well, for starters, Faith was a high school drop-out. That would leave her more time to work on being a slayer - without school, friends, family and other commitments. I suspect that Giles, as Faith's watcher, would have had far more Ripper near the surface. Faith may well have made friends but I can't see them being any of the characters on the show. Her friends would come from the street, not the school. I do think that Faith really would have trusted and loved Giles fairly quickly, once she learned he was on her side and not going to give up on her but he would have to prove himself.

Now, Angel and Faith - that would have been interesting. I suspect there would have been a lot more sex but no perfect happiness.
 
bespangeled said:
Well, for starters, Faith was a high school drop-out. That would leave her more time to work on being a slayer - without school, friends, family and other commitments.
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She would have been like a pure Slayer then, instead of Slayer-Lite like Buffy. And unlike Buffy she never would have died!
 
bespangeled said:
Well, for starters, Faith was a high school drop-out. That would leave her more time to work on being a slayer - without school, friends, family and other commitments. I suspect that Giles, as Faith's watcher, would have had far more Ripper near the surface. Faith may well have made friends but I can't see them being any of the characters on the show. Her friends would come from the street, not the school. I do think that Faith really would have trusted and loved Giles fairly quickly, once she learned he was on her side and not going to give up on her but he would have to prove himself.

Now, Angel and Faith - that would have been interesting. I suspect there would have been a lot more sex but no perfect happiness.
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Have to disagree on the whole. Firstly Buffy being a High School student actually provided a good cover for her and the Scoobies and second it was proven than having friends to back her up was actually a plus and aided her in her battles. I guess she had the scoobies there because she liked them, but at the same time she was smart enough to know than by taping into Willow's research skills, and smarts, and Xander's heart and fighting skills than in the long term it improved her chances. Now the thing about Giles is that when he comes to Sunnydale his methods are dated, and heis restricted, but Buffy overtime helped him to relax and think outside of the box, but at the same time she wasn't reckless about it, or if she was not very often and not on the same level as Faith would be. Don't get me wrong I think Giles and Faith could have been funtional as a team, but I don't see them working as well as Giles and Buffy. I just don't think at that stage than Faith had the qualities which Buffy had, and so I think they got the right Slayer at the right time.
 
Assuming that we keep Faith as she was actually portrayed, with the exception that she had been called instead of Buffy...

She would have arrived in Sunnydale as a 15 or 16 year old girl, with no parents or family, basically homeless. In that case, in all likelihood, there would have been some sort of arrangements made whereby Giles would have been appointed as her guardian, which would be pretty much S O P for the Watcher/Slayer dynamic. Given his position as school librarian, Giles would probably have insisted that Faith continue in school, so she would still interact with With Willow, Xander, and the others. Under those circumstances, I doubt that she and Xander would have had their little one night stand.

Would there have been Fangel to parallel Bangel? Probably not. Angelus might be attracted to bad girls, but not Angel. He might still have felt compelled to help her, however. Whistler kind of manipulated him into that, anyhow. (On the other hand, if we had had ensouled SPIKE show up in Sunnydale in "Welcome To The Hellmouth" instead of Angel, I think that we might definitely have had some hot Spaith goings on)
 
If Faith had been the first slayer called we would have seen a totally different Faith, because a lot of her self esteem issues come from constantly comparing herself to Buffy and finding herself lacking.

So without Buffy, Giles would have encouraged Faith back to school, and I think Faith would have liked having Giles all to herself, the father figure she never had, so she'd try to please him anyway she could. Once in school she's make friends, though I doubt they'd be Will or Xander, probably more lilke Dawns friend from S7, Kit and Carlos (?), the 'bad kids'

I could see a lot of Fangel action. Faith is sexually motivated, and hot, so how could Angel resist? I think they would be a great pairing, and help each others redemption stories. I think Angel would appreciate a bad girl trying to be good, a mirror of his own story.

It would have been a much darkes show with Faith as the lead, and we'd lose a lot of the laughs that were there in the early seasons.
 
I don't think much would have changed for her. She still would have had a bad childhood. She still would have had her fundamental flaws. She still would have had her reckless behavior. I don't think she would have had a close relationship with anyone if Buffy wasn't there. She would have been assigned a Watcher, possibly Giles. She still might have accidentally staked someone (due to being reckless), and refused to face her own guilt. The only difference probably would be that, since Buffy would not be there ad would not have known what had happened, Giles (or whoever her Watcher was) would not have found out. She wouldn't have gone to The Mayor, faced her demons, gone to jail, and became a better person. She might have just floated through life with no one to hold her accountable for her actions. Of course, she may have come to realizations about who she wanted to be another way. Either way in the long run I think it was better for Faith to not be the only Slayer. Sunnydale was definitely better off having Buffy.
 
I think Giles would've been a life-saver for Faith. He knew about troubled youth vs. responsibility so i think we would've seen that Ripper side sooner than we did.

Other than that- if she hadn't been in highschool then I guess she would've had to face the Master alone, and died alone. 🙁

Or maybe she would've kicked ass, who knows.
I don't think Angel and her would've happened though, so he might've just remained a shadowy ally- no Angelus.
 
I think Faith did suffer from the comparisons to Buffy and the jealousy of Buffy proved to be her main downfall. If she didn't have that, I could see her taking on the slayer role with aplomb, but I can also see her butting heads with Giles, because he likes it to be 'by the book' and Faith is too unpredictable for that.

She'd make friends, but not true friends, I can see Faith being the sort of bitca friend who hangs around with nerdy kids to make herself feel better and be superior to, but in Faith's case she'd be superior to everyone and I think that'd piss a lot of people off. I can't see her having anyone in her life, other than a reluctant Giles (who wonders what he's done to be blessed with such a hothead slayer) and Angel, lurking in the shadows, fascinated by Faith's attitude to slaying but ultimately never seeing her as anything other than a friend with benefits perhaps.
 
Iwearthecheese said:
I think Giles would've been a life-saver for Faith. He knew about troubled youth vs. responsibility so i think we would've seen that Ripper side sooner than we did.

Other than that- if she hadn't been in highschool then I guess she would've had to face the Master alone, and died alone. 🙁

Or maybe she would've kicked ass, who knows.
I don't think Angel and her would've happened though, so he might've just remained a shadowy ally- no Angelus.
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Giles tried to help her after she stabbed the deputy, but he couldn't reach her. I don't think even he could help her at that stage in her life.
 
Monkey Pants said:
Giles tried to help her after she stabbed the deputy, but he couldn't reach her. I don't think even he could help her at that stage in her life.
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But that was Post-Post! 😉
Pre-Post Faith was willing to follow Giles and help out with the Scoobies. So I think if she had arrived in Sunnydale first, (like S1?) and Giles had been 'her' watcher as opposed to JUST a borrowed one, then I think he would've had a deep grounding effect on her.
Remember that Faith wanted a parent-figure to guide her but she got that in the Mayor instead of any place 'good'.

I like the idea of Faith calling Giles 'boss' and being more mission oriented. I think over time, and wuith training, he could've calmed her more reckless side.
 
Hmm true. I guess we'll never know!
Athena said:
I think Faith did suffer from the comparisons to Buffy and the jealousy of Buffy proved to be her main downfall.
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I think she enjoyed Buffy's company. She didn't compare herself to Buffy until after the accident, when she was lashing out. And even then she was more jealous of her friends and family then her Slayer powers
 
I agree with the idea of Giles being her saviour. I think he would have been a father figure and that they would have become a lot closer than Buffy and Giles a lot faster. I think Giles would have been a lifeline for her. I dont think Faith and Angel would have happened unless faith was fundamentally different. Would she have had her own version of the Scoobies? I don't think so.
 
I think she enjoyed Buffy's company. She didn't compare herself to Buffy until after the accident, when she was lashing out. And even then she was more jealous of her friends and family then her Slayer powers[/QUOTE]

I don't thin Faith ever enjoyed Buffy's company. The first thing she does when the meet is take the stake out of Buffy's hand. They almost come to blows on their first patrol together, but luckilly a vampire appears. Faith goes mental on the vamp, and that seems to scare Buffy.
 
Athena said:
She'd make friends, but not true friends, I can see Faith being the sort of bitca friend who hangs around with nerdy kids to make herself feel better and be superior to, but in Faith's case she'd be superior to everyone and I think that'd piss a lot of people off.
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On the contrary, I think that we've seen consistently that Faith desperately wants friends, and wants to be accepted, she just doesn't know how to approach people without hiding behind her bad girl image. I think that Willow and Xander would have been able to reach her, and if Giles had given her the sort of support that he gave Buffy, she would have become a part of the team.

How she would have handled Xander having the hots for her, the way that he originally did for Buffy, would have been interesting, at the very least. (Maybe Xander would have been the one to experience the "moment of perfect happiness" and somehow go evil, instead of Angel)
 
Faith arrived in Sunnydale in damaged condition (assuming she had come after her first watcher had been killed). It would have helped if she had been accepted but her acceptance would have to come from someone who had a rapport with her like the mayor. Giles would never be that person - he could never sell the idea that his advice had value to Buffy and he had even less effect with Faith. The mayor saw her a the daughter he always wanted whereas Giles saw both Buffy and Faith as problem children to be endured.

There wouldn't be a "core four" in this case - Faith never would have had anything to do with Willow and Xander would have possibly been a one-night stand as in "The Zeppo". There would have been no Fangel - she was too closed off emotionally for a relationship and the big reveal that Angel was a vampire would have pushed her away from relationships even further. I think it is naïve to think that if Faith had come first, everything would have been OK. Now a core of Faith and a biker gang - that would be plausible, but where would Giles come in?
 
Priceless said:
If Faith had been the first slayer called we would have seen a totally different Faith, because a lot of her self esteem issues come from constantly comparing herself to Buffy and finding herself lacking.

So without Buffy, Giles would have encouraged Faith back to school, and I think Faith would have liked having Giles all to herself, the father figure she never had, so she'd try to please him anyway she could. Once in school she's make friends, though I doubt they'd be Will or Xander, probably more lilke Dawns friend from S7, Kit and Carlos (?), the 'bad kids'

I could see a lot of Fangel action. Faith is sexually motivated, and hot, so how could Angel resist? I think they would be a great pairing, and help each others redemption stories. I think Angel would appreciate a bad girl trying to be good, a mirror of his own story.

It would have been a much darkes show with Faith as the lead, and we'd lose a lot of the laughs that were there in the early seasons.
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Not just that but Giles would have enjoyed the compliments and he may have had that mid-life change sooner😛
 
An interesting concept for a fanfic. There are a few out there but nothing which had captivated me. First question would be if Buffy and Faith's order of calling is just reversed. Faith dies -> Kendra's called, Kendra dies -> Buffy's called? Does Buffy even exist?

To make me even want to think further about this requires that she's introduced to Willow, Xander and Cordelia and that they get into the known about the supernatural. She's a drop-out thus not attending Sunnydale High. Maybe the Council pulls some strings for a better disguise?

Xander's initial response to her would be similar like it was to Buffy. Faith's hot. Xander likes hot. Xander likes Faith. But would he also love her?

I think Willow would initially feel intimidated by Faith and the latter wouldn't make an attempt to befriend her on her own accord like Buffy did. To bring them closer would require a bit of twisting. For one, I do believe Willow would be similar compassionate when she finds out about Faith's destiny and would want to help her. A tool to let them spend more time with each other could be that Giles "assigns" Faith to Willow so the latter helps her with school stuff. Faith has backlog and to prevent her to drop out again, she'd need private lessons. Willow would be excited about it, Faith not. Could be funny.

Cordelia and Faith would hate each other. I don't see Faith responding to Cordy's early manners very well (and restrained like Buffy) and vice versa. At least in the first season. I see a lot pulling hairs and scratching (figuratively, well maybe not just figuratively).

Interesting would be Angel. Instead that Whistler brings him to L.A. to show him Buffy, he would witness Faith in Boston as well as her potential bad environment. I don't see a romance but a budding friendship... or Faith stakes him immediately at their first meeting.😀

For an Angelus arc, Angel would need a different love interest or it might be delayed to S03 when Buffy shows up.

Giles would probably loose some hair in exasperation.

All in all, there's a good chance that Faith doesn't goes over the deep end since she wouldn't be an outsider.
 
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