Joss Whedon's Masterpiece

[Buffyverse Fan]

Who was Joss Whedon's Greatest Creation?

Front runners in my mind are Buffy, Woody, Spike, Dr. Horrible, and Wes.

 

[AndrewCrossett]

The "Core Four" - Buffy, Willow, Xander, Giles. Perfect casting, the kind of chemistry that only comes around maybe once a decade on television, and conceived and acted so well that they took on their own lives (and life, as a group) beyond just the lines they spoke or the scenes they played.

 

[Kean]

Buffy and Angel for me (oh what a surprise).

Seriously though, rarely do you get characters of such depth and capable of such growth as these two. I struggle to think of characters in any other fiction that I admire more.

 

[Dancing man]

Angel I personally think he is the greatest character ever created.

 

[PrincessBuffy16]

My vote goes to Buffy.

 

[Eleftheria]

I believe that Joss creates great characters. I don't get to see that kind of characters anymore on tv or anywhere else. People who struggle to be better persons, who make the wrong choices just because they think it's the right thing for their friends, characterised by great values such as loyalty, friendship,deep love,honesty. Joss created a verse where there is no black and white and sometimes the right choice is ambiguous. Noone knows sometimes what is the right thing to do. This is everyday life...


Angel is one of my favourite characters. Buffy is a person,also , who evolves greatly as the years pass by and she is also my personal favourite...most of the Buffyverse and Angelverse characters are masterpieces IMO cause Joss dedicates time to show their development. They are not just the supporting characters. I got to see that in AtS...every person evolved in a very different way and interesting aspects of their characters are shown in every episode.

 

[Lindsey McDonald]

Echo.

Ok, really? Cordelia. I think she was a fantastically interesting character, especially since she started as pretty much a background annoyance for the Scoobies. She wasn't given much screen-time to shine, like the core four were, but they slowly built her up, layer upon layer until she was revealed to be probably the strongest, most selfless and caring character we knew. But the Queen C persona still fit perfectly with the Cordy who was happy to allow the visions to kill her. She didn't suddenly change, her development wasn't governed by the man in her life, and she was consistently damn hilarious.

 

[Revolver]

Did Joss alone create all the verse characters though? Certainly the ones features in the pilot would have been created by Joss but characters added later after a staff was in place are harder to label great Joss-characters and casting shouldn't come into play in this either.

 

[white avenger]

As much as I love Buffy, Angel, Spike, Willow, and all of the others, I think that my favorite Whedon character was River Tam. The character had the potential to be, and pretty much was at one point or another, anything from a gibbering basket case to a warrior capable of giving Buffy some serious competition in the kick ass department. Best of all, the character was played by a beautiful, talented actress who could pull off all of those different characterizations perfectly. (She made a pretty good cyborg bodyguard for John Connor, too, but that was a different universe)

 

[ubi4soft]

The Gentlemen and recreation of Ripley

 

[anyatara]

Anya. What, were you expecting something else from me? Considering she was my favourite character, I thought she was pretty darn amazing; she was funny and sarcastic, yeah but there was so much more to her. (And I'm too lazy to say anything more). I also thought Dr Horrible; just because...He's awesome. I have no better reasons.

 

[Nymphetamine]

Buffy, Spike and Drusilla.

 

[sk]

The "Core Four" - Buffy, Willow, Xander, Giles. Perfect casting, the kind of chemistry that only comes around maybe once a decade on television, and conceived and acted so well that they took on their own lives (and life, as a group) beyond just the lines they spoke or the scenes they played.

Yep, the core four is the masterpiece. That friendship is what I love to watch.

/SK

 

[Wesley]

Good question! I like the general concept that the Buffy core is his greatest masterpiece. Their interplay and growth over the course of the 7 seasons was very fun to watch. If you took any of the four in S1 and contrasted them with S7 they'd be hard to recognize.

The only other argument I expect could be made would be Angel. Whedon mentions in the note he includes with the Angel box set that his original concept was '...and she'll have a love interest, a mysterious stranger named Angel who turns out to be a vampire! But a vampire with a soul, cursed to walk the night in eternal remorse for his deed." He figured it was too cheesy and nobody would ever buy it. Well buy they did.

Angel was a simple silly character that grew into this greek tragedy level champion. A man cursed with a past he could never redeem, smart enough to know it, and noble enough to keep trying anyway.

 

[Spike Angelus]

I really can't pick one.

 

[thevikingsgirl]

I have a hard time choosing. I've only seen Buffy & Angel and the first episode of Firefly (just started it). Dollhouse is on my list, as is Dr. Horrible. But just from the two shows I've seen, it's still really hard to choose. I adore Buffy. I love Spike. I love Willow. I love Wes. What gets me about characters is when I get to see their growth and change. I think that's why those four stand out the most to me. Watching Buffy grow up was so wonderful and painful. I loved Spike's evolution from the Big Bad to vampire forced to give up killing to a character capable of love and selflessness. Wes was the main reason I even liked Angel at all, except season 5 which I liked for many reasons. He was the only saving grace of season 4 IMO. I started watching Buffy with my husband after I'd watched all of buffy and Angel, and seeing Wes come in as Buffy's replacement watcher was surreal. He was so different back then. Anya is a really great character too, so original. Like Ilyria in a way. See, it's so hard to choose!

I think this is why too, over the course of the series, I lost interest in 2 of my favorite characters, Xander and Giles. They just seemed more stagnant to me than the others.

 

[faeriegrrl27]

Uh... all of them? 🙂
Over all, I'd have to go with Buffy because of the impact she had on me, on culture, on... everything. She's very clearly to the star to me. She's strong and conflicted and human in the ways where it counts (and even where it doesn't... but it sounds more impact-y when I say it the other way).
Otherwise, I still love love love Willow. She was so deep and intricate and wonderful. Jayne is also up there, as well as Adelle. I like the complex characters (*not* a sarcastic comment. Jayne is complex.)

 

[Joan the Vampire Slayer]

Who was Joss Whedon's Greatest Creation?

Front runners in my mind are Buffy, Woody, Spike, Dr. Horrible, and Wes.

Great question.

My answer? Buffy Summers. She is by far his magnum opus. She's what he will always be known for. She's an icon. Her impact on popular culture cannot be overstated. In agreement with what Kean said regarding her - I couldn't have said it better myself. Buffy is not only my all-time favorite TV character - but she's my favorite fictional character ever. She's brave, smart, beautiful, loyal, sincere, and never, ever backs down. She's a modern woman warrior. She inspires others to be better people. She's a true hero.

I also agree with that AC said regarding the Core Four. Their great dynamic and chemistry is what makes the show "classic" Buffy to me.

Runners-up include:

Angel: What can I say? He's just...Angel. He was introduced on the show as Buffy's love interest and quickly grew out of his role. So much so that he was given his own show. Out of all of the characters in the Jossverse, Angel has evolved the most. Angel is the classic tragic hero, human (as in he makes mistakes) yet equally remarkable.

Spike: Big surprise here, right? I call Spike my little Vampire Chameleon. Like Angel, he was introduced as a disposable villian, but it was clear how much he "worked" with the cast and the story, and how much the fans loved him - so he stayed. Spike can just flawlessly integrate into any scene with any character and as any role; comic relief, antihero, love interest, hero. He can adapt to any situation. He's a lover and a fighter. He's brave yet sensitive. He has the most incredible chemistry with everyone he works with. He lights up my screen 🙂 Plus, he's half of my favorite 'ship of all time, a constant source of fascination for me.

Captain Mal: I'm surprised no one has mentioned him yet. He was a great character (like River) with outstanding potential. His constant struggle and concern with what was "morally" right was perfectly juxtaposed with the irony of what he did for a living. He was a source of constant fascination for me.

Wesley: The evolution this character went through is nothing short of incredible. Enough said.

Topher: I find him fascinating. How did he get involved with the DH? Why? How? So many questions.

So many others...so little time. 🙂

 

[BillyidolwannaB]

Buffy and Angelus from Surprise to Becoming is his masterpiece to me.
With Spike a close second.

 

[Summerlilly]

Gotta put in some more SPIKE love!!!!!! I especially love his character because initially they never even saw the huge potential that Spike would come to fullfil! His growth as a character was just as much of an evolution to the writers as it was to us. Spike became part of the universe because we couldn't see him go! And Buffy wouldn't be the character she is today without him.:cheering: