Personality Change from The Wish

[slayerpower]

In The Wish, Anyaka is relatively normal when chatting to Cordy. But in later episodes, she acts different, not understanding human customs, speaking her mind, etc. What gives?

 

[goldenboy]

Yeah, that always seemed odd to me. It's almost like a retcon of sorts. Go back and reinvent a character as you move forward.

She is a lot more interesting as a bumbling, inexperienced human. The writers made a good decision, but it mucks up the continuity a bit.

Same with Angel's activities during the 20th century. You would have thought early on Buffy that he spent the entire time hiding in alleys, feeding on rats.

You'd think the original Anya would have been a much more effective vengeance demon.

 

[watcher1006]

I agree also. A while ago I read from the tv.com site that Anya was originally supposed to only be a two-episode character, the episodes being "The Wish" and "Doppelgangland". If so it would seem that the plan for her changed sometime after "The Wish" was written. Even after she returns to being a vengeance demon in Season 6, her powers don't seem as profound as they are in her first episode. She's certainly no match for hopped-up Willow.

I'm not even sure she was originally supposed to have once been human. One of the remarks she makes to Xander in "The Prom", where she refers to "the males of the species" makes me wonder.

 

[The Arcane]

Yeah, that always seemed odd to me. It's almost like a retcon of sorts. Go back and reinvent a character as you move forward.

She is a lot more interesting as a bumbling, inexperienced human. The writers made a good decision, but it mucks up the continuity a bit.

Same with Angel's activities during the 20th century. You would have thought early on Buffy that he spent the entire time hiding in alleys, feeding on rats.

You'd think the original Anya would have been a much more effective vengeance demon.

It's definately a retcon, to some extent anyway, especially as Anya was only supposed to be around for a couple of season three episodes (as watcher1006 says above). However it's one that can be explained away. If you assume that Anya would take on the character of whatever setting she placed herself in to grant her wishes then you could also assume that her rich girl personality in The Wish was a facade, to get close to Cordy. Perhaps she would have become a total nerd if the girl she had been there to "help" had also been a nerd and so on. It makes sense that Anya would need to be able to fake empathy with those she was going to grant a wish to.

When you think about it, how different did Halfrek seem when she was talking to Dawn in Older and Far Away as a guidance counselor to how she actually was when just being herself. It would appear that putting on a "personality mask" was a talent shared by all vengeance demons.

I agree also. A while ago I read from the tv.com site that Anya was originally supposed to only be a two-episode character, the episodes being "The Wish" and "Doppelgangland". If so it would seem that the plan for her changed sometime after "The Wish" was written. Even after she returns to being a vengeance demon in Season 6, her powers don't seem as profound as they are in her first episode. She's certainly no match for hopped-up Willow.

Anya's only real power was in the wish itself, same as all vengeance demons. Okay, they have the physical advantages most demons seem to have (increased strength and so on) but their actual power was only to grant the wishes of those they helped. That could be as simple as causing pain to an ex-partner or as extreme as rewriting reality as was seen in The Wish. It was purely about what was wished for and so the end result was entirely random.

Also, don't forget that Halfrek said in Lessons that Anya seemed to be holding back in what she did with the wishes. Not making the most of her power. That may also explain why she seemed more limited after she became a demon again.

 

[goldenboy]

It's definately a retcon, to some extent anyway, especially as Anya was only supposed to be around for a couple of season three episodes (as watcher1006 says above). However it's one that can be explained away. If you assume that Anya would take on the character of whatever setting she placed herself in to grant her wishes then you could also assume that her rich girl personality in The Wish was a facade, to get close to Cordy. Perhaps she would have become a total nerd if the girl she had been there to "help" had also been a nerd and so on. It makes sense that Anya would need to be able to fake empathy with those she was going to grant a wish to.

If you're saying that part of a vengeance demon's gift is a supernatural knowledge of their victim's attitudes, values, morality, then it works. Anya can blend in because of her innate demon abilities. But then she's demoted, made human...that brain tapping ability goes away. Sort of like how Gunn had the legal brain boost (unearned knowledge).

So apparently, human Anya has detailed, specific memories of the pleasures of wreaking vengeance throughout the centuries...but not the retention of that "false" empathy gift. To me, it's not her contempt of human behaviors, emotions that seems retconnish, it's her general ignorance.

Does she have any memory of what it was like to be Aud? There were flashbacks, but I can't recall if they were hers or just general narrative ones. Wow, this is a geekish post, heh.

 

[The Arcane]

If you're saying that part of a vengeance demon's gift is a supernatural knowledge of their victim's attitudes, values, morality, then it works. Anya can blend in because of her innate demon abilities. But then she's demoted, made human...that brain tapping ability goes away. Sort of like how Gunn had the legal brain boost (unearned knowledge).

So apparently, human Anya has detailed, specific memories of the pleasures of wreaking vengeance throughout the centuries...but not the retention of that "false" empathy gift. To me, it's not her contempt of human behaviors, emotions that seems retconnish, it's her general ignorance.

Does she have any memory of what it was like to be Aud? There were flashbacks, but I can't recall if they were hers or just general narrative ones. Wow, this is a geekish post, heh.

Yeah, that's pretty much what I'm saying. That demon Anya could tap into the personality of the person she was to grant a wish to so as to get close to them. Basically the ultimate in supernatural method acting, hehe.

However, it may have been that she had come to depend on the ability a little too much. Being able to use these false feelings and emotions to blend in may have had the knock on effect of causing Anya to lose the ability to feel real emotion for herself. Then, when her power was taken away, she was left with a blank canvas when it came to feelings. It's fair to say that she had been a demon long enough to have forgotten what it was like to feel when she was still Aud, even if she did still retain the memory of that time.

 

[Lyri]

i agree with Arcane...Anyanka the demon had to be able to fit into the life of the woman she was trying to 'help', so she had to act like she belonged, otherwise they would never have trusted her enough to make a wish. part of her demonic powers might have been empathy, or at least some sort of power to know how she needed to act with a particular woman. hense her fitting in so well at the beginning of 'The Wish'
but when she became human again, that power vanished and she was left, in her words, mortal, a child, and flunking math. it had been so long since she was a human, over 1000 years, that she forgot how to feel real emotions, so she had to learn how to.
a perfect example of this is 'The Body' when she can't understand why Joyce is dead. 'why she'll never brush her hair again, why there's just a body, and why she can't just get back in it and not be dead anymore.'
this, in my mind, is one of Anya's best ever scenes, showing how vunerable she is now.