Illyria: Worst Character Ever?
- Thread starter PurplePoof
- Start date
J
JenniferAlice
Guest
I think Illyria fitted in well with Season 5, everything seemed to get a bit mental is Season 5. I think the whole season was a bit stupid, but I love it.
Kali
Dr. Ogyn - Dorm pride!!
Damned right. That reptilian ruthlessness in a woman of such power - they could have had some real fun with that. They need more kick ass females on TV!
Veyron
I agree, Joss has always made a point of incorporating women with power into his shows... Buffy, Dollhouse and Illyeria in Angel - all female characters with some form of power over the males around her.
For me the best thing about Illyria was not Illyria herself but how others reacted to her and interacted with her. You had Wesley who had lost perhaps the love of his life but still had some part of her walking about reminding him of her. You had Gunn who through wanting to better himself with legal knowlege played a part in her becoming Illyria and he then had to love with what he had done to a woman that he too had loved. I think that is kinda genius in a way.
Summerlilly
Covert Superhero
Certainley NOT the worst character!! I have to say Ilyria gave Amy a chance to do some amazing acting and not to mention bring a stunning and multifacted character to life. The theory behind her character is quite interesting but I felt like she hung around for too many episodes. It was like we don't want to get rid of Amy so lets just keep this Ilyria person lurking around....hmmm. Actually killing Fred really pissed me off but at least it gave us something new to the mess of storylines in season 5!
I adore Illyria...I took my user name from the character name.
As much as I hated losing Fred, I thought Illyria was a great assest to the show. She was different, she wasn't good, she couldn't be, but she wasn't really evil either. I loved seeing her interaction with the rest of the characters. You had Wesley, who didn't really want anything to do with her, but he wanted to help her at the same time. Gunn, who knew he was partly responsible for her existence. Angel, who cut himself off completely and pretended like she was someone else. And Spike, who, despite his feelings for Fred, knew this wasnt the same person and was able to cut off his emotions and treat her like a completely new person, rather than dwelling on his love of Fred and being reminded of that everytime he looked at her.
While I did love Illyria, I was annoyed that Joss decided to kill off Fred, especially durning a season in which we already lost Cordelia, and only had two main female characters. But the role of Illyria really did give Amy something new and interesting to play. She really showed her talent in this character, especially in 'The Girl in Question' when she had to play both characters in the same scene. I thought that was some of the best acting I had seen from Amy, up until that point.
As much as I hated losing Fred, I thought Illyria was a great assest to the show. She was different, she wasn't good, she couldn't be, but she wasn't really evil either. I loved seeing her interaction with the rest of the characters. You had Wesley, who didn't really want anything to do with her, but he wanted to help her at the same time. Gunn, who knew he was partly responsible for her existence. Angel, who cut himself off completely and pretended like she was someone else. And Spike, who, despite his feelings for Fred, knew this wasnt the same person and was able to cut off his emotions and treat her like a completely new person, rather than dwelling on his love of Fred and being reminded of that everytime he looked at her.
While I did love Illyria, I was annoyed that Joss decided to kill off Fred, especially durning a season in which we already lost Cordelia, and only had two main female characters. But the role of Illyria really did give Amy something new and interesting to play. She really showed her talent in this character, especially in 'The Girl in Question' when she had to play both characters in the same scene. I thought that was some of the best acting I had seen from Amy, up until that point.
Airam
Zen baby.
Looked stupid?... well I guess aesthetically its a matter of opinion but I thought she looked cool as hell. And I love Illyria... I like Fred too and its a toss at times but pretty much I'd say it's 60/40 Illyria for me. She was interesting and I agree with whomever said that one of the most interesting parts about her was how others around her reacted to her. Especially Wesley. Illyria brought out new layers and complexities in the character of Wes that were so compelling to watch. Granted I'm not a fan of the Fresley relationship but I'm sure that I like it better this way than if Wes and Fred had gotten together and lived happily ever after. Fred and Wesley as a couple would have been oh so boring to me. But the getting him SO close to getting her and having her ripped from him engaged me and made me feel for Wes. I think Illyria was a great thing to happen to his character.
Also, hell yeah Amy rocked those dual roles... its not just deepening your voice and being monotone... it takes talent to be able to pull off two vastly different characters like that. And that talent was in your face obvious in the episodes where we watch her switch back and forth from one moment to the next between both characters... like in The Girl in Question, the moments where Illyria is appearing as Fred but speaking to Wes as Illyria, that to me was enough to show that Amy didn't need all the Illyria makeup to make the character come to life and believable, she can just pull it off... impressive.
Also, hell yeah Amy rocked those dual roles... its not just deepening your voice and being monotone... it takes talent to be able to pull off two vastly different characters like that. And that talent was in your face obvious in the episodes where we watch her switch back and forth from one moment to the next between both characters... like in The Girl in Question, the moments where Illyria is appearing as Fred but speaking to Wes as Illyria, that to me was enough to show that Amy didn't need all the Illyria makeup to make the character come to life and believable, she can just pull it off... impressive.
She is one of my favorite characters. She reminds me alot of Seven of Nine (From Voyager) whom I also love. I like her story of big bad being knocked off her throne and having to live in the human world and bring all her unique perspectives on what she sees. She's an embodiment of what is great about these shows - the right mix of serious & funny.
I love all her speeches with Wesley/Spike/Angel, especially the ones with Wesley, her interactions with him were alot of fun. And I liked her development, how she slowly began to show feelings for Wesley. And the way she was introduced was fantastic and original, having a new character but with the same actress, it made everything about the situation alot more interesting
The only problem is she comes in too late in the season, I find the first half of the season just a waiting game for her to show up. And one of the biggest tragedies for the shows cancellation is the fact we didn't get enough screen time with her. Plus AHITW/Shells are two of the shows greatest episodes.
I love all her speeches with Wesley/Spike/Angel, especially the ones with Wesley, her interactions with him were alot of fun. And I liked her development, how she slowly began to show feelings for Wesley. And the way she was introduced was fantastic and original, having a new character but with the same actress, it made everything about the situation alot more interesting
The only problem is she comes in too late in the season, I find the first half of the season just a waiting game for her to show up. And one of the biggest tragedies for the shows cancellation is the fact we didn't get enough screen time with her. Plus AHITW/Shells are two of the shows greatest episodes.
Kana
Soulless human
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2007
- Messages
- 1,305
I loved how Illyria's existential crisis mirrored Wes'. Wes had lost his world and Illyria had lost hers. It was moving and disturbing to watch them forge their paths, finding an unhealthy solace in one another. I found it compelling that she was someone who held if not antipathy towards the human condition, certainly seemed apathetic about their suffering, yet she had empathic abilities. This gave her a sort of insight into human emotion and psychology whilst observing their behaviour with almost childlike curiosity.
Genre matters little to me if the story is good and I believe Illyria's was compelling. Sometimes shows like these can leap beyond the boundaries of our imagination because there are few apparent metaphysical boundaries. It can take tragedy and kinship to a knew level. Wes and Illyria was one of my favourite pairing (and I'm not necessarily talking romantically) and I found them infinitely more interesting than Wes/Fred.
Genre matters little to me if the story is good and I believe Illyria's was compelling. Sometimes shows like these can leap beyond the boundaries of our imagination because there are few apparent metaphysical boundaries. It can take tragedy and kinship to a knew level. Wes and Illyria was one of my favourite pairing (and I'm not necessarily talking romantically) and I found them infinitely more interesting than Wes/Fred.
I agree they were far more interesting together than Fred, it was this weird love triangle that somehow involved only two people. And the end when Illyria offered to lie to Wesley, I believe that was for her benefit as much as it was his, she wanted to believe her own lie, that Wesley loved her the way she loved him.
Airam
[No message]
Joan the Vampire Slayer
Carpe Spuffy!
PurplePoof
Surgeon Of Mean
I see where some of the Illyria defenders are coming from...but I still think she's a big ol' crapheap. She kinda embodies a lot of what I didn't like about AtS in general...too many other-worldy characters that lacked anything relatable and were just too comic book-y.
i just finished season 5 and i have to say that i really like illyria. i loved fred, so her loss was heartbreaking, but wow what an amazing couple of episodes. i think the episode "shells" was incredible and i absolutely love the wesley/illyria dynamic and the spike/illyria dynamic. i don't read the comics at all, but i would be very interested in the furthering of the wesley/illyria relationship. i thought wesley was hilarious on buffy and quite funny in the beginning when he was on angel, but after all the shit that happened to him, ending with the death of fred and the weird relationship between him and illyria, i thought he was fascinating and one of the most evolved characters in the entire whedon-verse. i think that illyria was sort of a channel for wesley.
ILLYRIAN
Druish Pervonian Wizard
I liked the character of Illyria, as you may notice from my username.
For me everything was just lovely, I'd have even liked her if her colour was purple, my favourite colour at that time was purple, but I saw the light, and from the light came blue.
For me everything was just lovely, I'd have even liked her if her colour was purple, my favourite colour at that time was purple, but I saw the light, and from the light came blue.
Personally, I just think that PurplePoof's still a little angry about Cordelia not being in S5. Maybe it's just me. 🙂
I like Illyria, but not NEAR as much as Fred or Cordy. Her storylines were, imo, pretty lame sometimes, and she was just kinda... blah, but I got over it. Now she's okay in my eyes.
I like Illyria, but not NEAR as much as Fred or Cordy. Her storylines were, imo, pretty lame sometimes, and she was just kinda... blah, but I got over it. Now she's okay in my eyes.
BlasterBoy606
Big Damn Hero
I like her, but the fact that her non-personality character replaced the second best charac. on the show (Second to Cordy, of course), not sure why that happened. So, if it's taking into account that Illyria killed Fred, then yes, I hate her. If we're just looking at her character, I've gotta say she is a pretty average character.
I liked her because she brought a lot more depth to Fred who I found to be dull at this point. Illyria was such a great character for bringing out the emotions of the other characters. Spike's relationship with her was just fasinating to watch as was Wes.
PurplePoof: I dont really understand the hate either, other than if you really liked Fred and wanted her around which makes sense but that dosn't seem the case. She didnt really detract from the show, she enhanced the other characters. She was SciFi yes but like you said, this isnt Buffy and its nothing new on the show. I cant help feeling your problem is less about Illyria and more about Ats... in which case, just enjoy buffy 🙂
PurplePoof: I dont really understand the hate either, other than if you really liked Fred and wanted her around which makes sense but that dosn't seem the case. She didnt really detract from the show, she enhanced the other characters. She was SciFi yes but like you said, this isnt Buffy and its nothing new on the show. I cant help feeling your problem is less about Illyria and more about Ats... in which case, just enjoy buffy 🙂
Joan the Vampire Slayer
Carpe Spuffy!
See, I don't see Illyria as an extension of Fred at all. She's a completely different character in my eyes. Fred is gone, her soul is gone...it's only her body that Illyria took over.
I totally understand what PP is saying about her. She is a boring, Star Treky, way-too sci-fi generic character. I think what makes her interesting in some way is her intarations with others, and how they react to her. She doesn't really have human-like modivations, vulnerabilites, or any sort of personality - so it is hard to relate to her, and as a a result - feel for her like we do the other characters.
Honestly, I love Ats. Yet, the last few episodes really enraged me, mostly as a result of how Wes was killed, Illryia, and of course, the last episode. Bleh. Not impressed. Left hanging? Yes.
I remember Joss saying in some interview that Amy wanted to play a different character. She was sick of playing Fred 🙂 Joss' shows experiment with many genres; Iilyria was just a step in the sci-fi direction, I guess. And I must admit, her interactions with Spike are quite funny 🙂
The Ferg
Read ATF. It made ME feel better. :)
Wild At Heart
the moon lights his way
The worst character ever in the Buffyverse IMO would be Ted...I found myself rooting for Buffy to kill him when she well killed him lol 😀
J
JenniferAlice
Guest
I love Illyria, she makes me laugh, I think I'm alot like her. A character who I hate is, bloody, whatzizname, XANDER.
No sorry, I don't hate anyone. That's a LIE. Look.
No sorry, I don't hate anyone. That's a LIE. Look.