Is Buffy like Faith?

Faith was, is and will always be anti-Buffy. She was the darker Buffy, she is redempted but is not "light" as Buffy and will not be in the Buffy's league. Slayers like Buffy are more responsible and have more awareness about being a slayer (like Kendra), slayers like Faith are more skeptical about the role of the slayer (like Kennedy). In short, Buffy and Faith are in different leagues, call it different houses [reference to Harry Potter].

I completely agree, they are different, different personalities, majorly different pasts and present lives and they have different methods and moralities. So theres no real grounds for comparison other than to say they are different, i mean you could possibly be considered ethnocentric for even suggesting one was better than the other
 
I completely agree, they are different, different personalities, majorly different pasts and present lives and they have different methods and moralities. So theres no real grounds for comparison other than to say they are different, i mean you could possibly be considered ethnocentric for even suggesting one was better than the other

I agree to an extent. They are very difficult to compare because they are so different. However if you believed that one was better than the other you wouldn't be ethnocentric.

Ethnocentric is comparing everyone else's culture and ethnicity with your own, looking at other people from the perspective of only your own culture/ethnicity. I'm not trying to talk down to you at all, just thought you'd appreciate a definition of the word so you can use it in proper context.
 
I knew what i meant, i meant it would be kinda ethnic centric looking at one as right or wrong when comparing them because they are from different worlds, buffy a white, middle class world and faith seems to come from a working class background, from a different state, which is similar to being in a different country in some ways.
 
I knew what i meant, i meant it would be kinda ethnic centric looking at one as right or wrong when comparing them because they are from different worlds, buffy a white, middle class world and faith seems to come from a working class background, from a different state, which is similar to being in a different country in some ways.

That still isn't ethnocentric (maybe but I'll agree to disagree and leave this alone and let the thread get back on topic.)
 
Buffy was dealing with her own death in one episode. It's not like that was who she was. Faith was who she was because of years and years of whatever she went through and not having any guidance. Everyone has the temptation to follow the dark side, but Faith chose that side and Buffy didn't.
 
D
doppelgänger2
[No message]
K
Kimm
[No message]
Buffy was dealing with her own death in one episode. It's not like that was who she was. Faith was who she was because of years and years of whatever she went through and not having any guidance. Everyone has the temptation to follow the dark side, but Faith chose that side and Buffy didn't.

I agree and I think the key word here is chose.
 
I'm not going to repeat pointlessly what epo and doppel said cause I just think like they do.... it's just that... about choice... I would say that Faith didn't choose the bad side or whatever you call it, but rather fell in it by mistake (killing accidentally Trick being the major mistake)... just like Buffy fell into it several times. The difference is that Buffy always crawled out of it in no time BECAUSE of family and friends (once again). She had like an experience of what GREAT life with loving ppl can be.... so she had hopes.
Unlike Faith... and that was her mistake, not to be strong enough to see the difference between good or bad... we should remember also that the Mayor mixed up her feelings and confused her, changed her point of view in being like a father (when she was craving for a parental love). And this daddy's love was stronger than B's will to be her friend. Course you can say that B reached for Faith and stuff... of course Xan too wanted to be her friend, and Giles and Angel.... but like someone said before (sorry I'm not quoting) B got jealous (no real friendship) and Angel if he got a chance to help her was stopped by stupid Wes. That's the big thing too.... how could we expect her to go back to Giles for help after what Wes did? After the Gwendolyn Post thing? Can't trust, can't trust...

And like epo said it doesnt mean that we EXCUSE her or anything... we just understand the process that made her be who she was when she was evil...
And Faith herself admit that she made a mistake and she's ready to pay the consequences when she realizes it.... since go into jail on her own. So who can really blame her in the end?
 
D
doppelgänger2
here here!
E
eponinethen
Some people will just never understand our dear Faith.. it's sad...
E
Edmund Blackadder
hehe....points for my rep in th Buffy vs Faith thread....glad you approved of my comment....lol
I think that Joss and the writers created Faith to show how Buffy could have essentially turned out, put into a different situation, which explains Buffy's defence of Faith and her actions to begin with. But as with what others have said Faith embraced the dark side and had nothing strong enough to make her come back when she was given a father figure in the Mayor. It doesn't make what she did right, but it's how it goes. I think there are basic and primal instincts that both slayer's posess, but when it comes down to it, Faith regresses into herself and pushes people away and lashes out in situations where Buffy would open up and share and work through the problem. Faith always seems like the less mature and younger slayer, maybe if she had been given the same things Buffy had we would see the similarities more
 
i agree with that and i dont believe buffy is like faith but they sometimes behaved in the same way throughout season 2 and 3
 
I agree that they have certain similarities but it was when Faith murdered a man in BadGirls and then claimed she didn't care that things really kicked off, i don't think Buffy would react like that, she was totaly going mad for just being at the crime scene and knowing what happened. But I also think the whole Buffy Faith thing is about competion and jealous rivalry, B was always top dog until Faith came on the scene and started drawing attention away from Buffy with her hunger and sexual passion for slaying when Buffy is mainly brooding about it.
 
Yeah faith is to buffy as spike is to angel. One sees their powers etc as a gift and the other as a curse
 
I think one of the reasons buffy didn't have much patience with faith..was because faith was so much like buffy. I can't remember the episode name..but the one with the alternate reality..where buffy never came to sunnydale..I was suprised at how much Buffy was like Faith... I'm sure if Faith had the chance of having a watcher like giles..and the scoobies..she would have turned out quite differently also.

But Buffy did have a dark side..and I think she just hated the fact that when faith was around that she was constantly seeing that dark side..if it makes any sense.
 
W
watcher1006
Good points!
I don't think that Buffy is ANYTHING like Faith. I mean she was a little bit like her in Bad Girls, but it was Faith leading her down the wrong path. Buffy managed to overcome the temptation very quickly. Faith didn't. Plus, Buffy was alot more open about her feelings than Faith. I believe that deep down Faith did care about the man she killed in Bad Girls, she just wanted to treat the situation like it was nothing, and didn't matter. I think that Faith had trouble understanding her gift too. She just saw it as a bit of accelerating fun, but Buffy knew that it was a responsibility and extremely important.
 
Interesting question. Some posters here have referred to Buffy in S3 "The Wish", a great episode. I've come to realize that the shadow of Faith is present in the alternate reality of that episode, where Buffy is fighting her battles all by herself. But although she is mentioned at the beginning Faith never actually appears. I sort of wish Faith could have been in that episode, there are fascinating ways it could have been done.

Later in the season, I think the distinction between the thinking of Buffy and Faith becomes blurred. Recall the line from S3 "Enemies" where Angel has just revealed that he hasn't really turned. Buffy and Faith fight and come to a standoff holding knives at each others' throats.

Faith: What are you gonna do, B, kill me? You become me. You're not ready for that, yet.

So intriguing - Faith then proceeds to kiss Buffy on the head before running away.

Then recall S3 "Graduation Day Pt. I". Buffy and Willow:

Buffy: No, it's perfect. Angel needs to drain a Slayer, then I'll bring him one.

Willow: Buffy, if Angel drains Faith's blood, it'll kill her.

Buffy: Not if she's already dead.

Sounded like intent to kill to me. Before they fight Faith tells Buffy that she'll never take her alive, to which Buffy responds "Not a problem". So funny, just before they close with each other Faith invites Buffy to give her a kiss.

Then after Buffy stabs her, Faith tells her "You did it...you killed me."

So by the end of the season, the line between Buffy and Faith is no longer so clearly drawn.
 
Like stated before, I think that Faith could have been just like Buffy if she had the friends that Buffy did. They were infact the only thing keeping Buffy grounded; there to help her through the dark times.

The way I saw it, Buffy and Faith had a sibling relationship, and Buffy was the prodigal child, while Faith was the one with the slipping grades. With everyone wondering why she wasn't like Buffy, of course it would drive her to become something different. I believe she consciously didn't care about the man she killed because Buffy did. She wanted to live her life her own way, without being compared to anyone.

I don't remember the name of the episode, but in S4, when Faith and Buffy body swapped, Faith got the chance to see why Buffy was the way she was. She got to feel all that comfort that Buffy's friends and Riley gave her. And she liked it. If Buffy hadn't switched the bodies back, I believe that Faith could have stayed in her body without anyone knowing the difference with a little time.
 
Buffy and Faith are very different. But you do have to ask yourself...If Buffy's life was a little more like Faith's would she have acted like Faith did? Also in the episode The Wish, Buffy wasn't sweet old Buffy, she was careless, reckless Faith..if you ask me...and this is just IMO.

BUT I LOVE FAITH. AND BUFFY TOO!!! I like each of them for different reasons. And inside they both have good hearts.
 
ok ive thought about this question,'is buffy like faith'? and i found it quite difficult to answer because there are a lot of factors involved and situations change a lot.a situation often makes a person who they are,for example Faith has been put into bad situations all her life which is why she was the kind of person who didnt really care about anything and thought she could get away with everything.Faith didnt have any guidance to show her what's right from wrong.Then you have Buffy who had parents who loved her and taught her rules and boundaries,which is why when Faith killed someone by accident she knew even though it was by accident it was still wrong that Faith didnt care.
in the episode 'the wish' we get to see what would happen to Buffy if she didnt have the right guidance and someone to show her what her powers are truly for and how she shouldnt abuse the power she has.in this episode Buffy is infact like Faith where she thinks that she can do anything.
this makes me think that Buffy and Faith are alike in truth but situations make the good and worse come out of people,and Buffy happened to get the better end of the stick.if Faith had a proper childhood i think she would have ended up being more like Buffy.
 
Xin Rong
Xin Rong
Very true
buffy wasnt like faith, but she did have it in her to be like faith... (if that made sense lol) No really, did anyone remember alternate Buffy in 'The Wish'? She was so much like Faith!!!
 
Buffy's nothing like Faith. In the sense of hotness, anyway.

Faith probably endured great emotional traumas from the time she was a little girl, she's just dealt with so much, which is what has sent her so far over the edge.
 
I think one of the reasons buffy didn't have much patience with faith..was because faith was so much like buffy. I can't remember the episode name..but the one with the alternate reality..where buffy never came to sunnydale..I was suprised at how much Buffy was like Faith... I'm sure if Faith had the chance of having a watcher like giles..and the scoobies..she would have turned out quite differently also.

But Buffy did have a dark side..and I think she just hated the fact that when faith was around that she was constantly seeing that dark side..if it makes any sense.


Yeah exactly, I think this kinda shows how slayers should be, they should be more like Faith, well not that they should be, but they probably tended to be. Like the alternate universe were we see a very faith-like-Buffy, and in When she was Bad, which was pre-Faith, Buffy comes back more emotionally closed off and very Faith like.
 
Back
Top Bottom