Question Relevant ladies...

[Chasing Cordy]

Since Sarah/Buffy was the most prominent or relevant actress/character in the BtVS series, who would most likely be 2 and 3?

I'm thinking Alyson/Willow as #2 but #3 is a big toss-up. And if there was a certain #3 could we get another group of 3 ladies for a 2nd group?

 

[Blaze]

Are we talking only BtVS or AtS too? If we're talking about both, than I'd say Buffy, Cordy and Willow (in that order). If we're talking about BtVS only, I'd say Buffy, Willow, Faith. I know Faith never even made it as a main character. But her importance in the series is greater than any of the other female character. Especially considering the mythology of slayers is the premise of the show, and Faith holds a really important role for that premise. 
On a side note, it's great that I actually had to think about it, most show don't even have enough strong female characters to think about something like that. Here, there's actually a lot of options.

 

[Lyri]

If we're just talked BtVS, then for me it's Buffy, Dawn, Willow. In that order.

Faith is certainly in the top five, no question, but for me, those three were the ones who had the most impact on the show and the biggest impact on the other characters. Other characters, other female characters, have been important, of course, but it's because of these three that the lives of every single character were forced to change.

 

[EVIL UU]

1. Buffy
2. Willow
3. Anya

Why? Screen time and number of lines 'cause unlike personal tastes those things are actually quantifiable.

 

[thetopher]

On Buffy?

1. Buffy (naturally)

2. Willow
3. Dawn
4. Faith

Those three are Buffy's best friend, only remaining blood family, and her dark mirror respectively. Their the most important female characters in how they relate to the main character and how they affect/change Buffy throughout the series.

If we're talking Mythos of the show instead of the character then Faith would easily be number 2.
Plus she's the only one of the three who has her own comic.
(Although I would totally buy an issue of 'The Adventures of Willow and Ghost Tara' 🙂)


IMO, people like Tara, Anya or Cordy don't really rate in how they affect Buffy.


On Angel then Cordy in Number 1, because of how she affects the main character, Angel.

 

[Ethan Reigns]

Going by the number of episodes the actresses appear in, the following is the picture:

1. Buffy (obviously) appeared in all 144 episodes
2. Willow appeared in all 144 episodes (the IMDB listing is wrong here)
3. Anya appeared in 85 episodes
4. Dawn appeared in 66 episodes
5. Cordelia appeared in 58 episodes
6. Joyce appeared in 58 episodes
7. Tara appeared in 47 episodes
8. Faith appeared in 20 episodes
9. Drusilla appeared in 17 episodes
10. Harmony appeared in 16 episodes
11. Jenny appeared in 14 episodes
12. Glory appeared in 13 episodes
14. Kennedy appeared in 13 episodes
15. Amanda appeared in 10 episodes

Number of episodes is not necessarily the definition of the most "relevant", but by a simple definition of "prominent" as the OP asked, it is the main list of double-digit and up female appearances. After all, you have to show up to be part of the story. There are diverging definitions of "relevant". There are a lot of Faith fans out there who would be surprised to see how few episodes she was in considering how important she was to the story. For a number of people, Anya and Dawn were just appendages to the story, but they are third and fourth in quantity of appearances. I will leave you with the quantified data here and we have the rest of the forum to discuss how important each character is.

 

[Blaze]

Interesting post @Ethan Reigns.

I think this list goes to prove that just because you appeared in more episode doesn't make you more relevant to the story. The way I see it, you can remove Anya entirely, and only a very few amount of storyline would be affected. Episodes like The Wish, Hell Bells, and others would be removed, but it wouldn't change the overall arc of BtVS s1-7. Whereas with characters like Dawn, Faith, even Tara and Joyce, can't be removed from the story without changing at least one very major storyline.

 

[thetopher]

Since the thread is titled 'relevant' ladies and not 'prominent' I'm not gonna go for a simple 'counting by the number of episodes.'

By that rational we get all sorts of screwed up thinking. 😱

For example Spike was in more episodes of Buffy than Angel was- is he more 'relevant' to Buffy then?
Is Anya more important than Angel- she was in more episodes that him as well.
Oz was in the credits for 2 seasons, and Tara was in them for one episode- so Oz is more important?

I think if you look at the relationships of the characters it leads to a better understanding of relevant' and its really not as subjective as all that. Relationships on the show are quatifiable up to a point.

Who is important to Buffy as she stands as a character? Family and friends. The Scoobies and Giles, and her Mom and sister. Then probably her love interest of the time, and so on.

 

[Chasing Cordy]

I was just wondering because I wanted to make computer backgrounds for several Tv shows and this was one of them.
I'm thinking of going with Buffy, Willow, Faith, Cordelia, Anya, Dawn, Joyce, Harmony, and Glory as the primary 9.

 

[Blaze]

I was just wondering because I wanted to make computer backgrounds for several Tv shows and this was one of them.
I'm thinking of going with Buffy, Willow, Faith, Cordelia, Anya, Dawn, Joyce, Harmony, and Glory as the primary 9.

If I was going for the primary 9 on BtVS only, I'd definitely switch out Harmony for Tara, who in my opinion is a much more important character (I rate Tara above Anya and Cordy just because she had such an impact on the events of s6). I would also place a few characters above Glory, but that's probably just a matter of opinion.

 

[thetopher]

Yeah, definitly include Tara instead of Harmony. Maybe Amy instead of Glory as well.

Agree with the rest though. 🙂

 

[Lyri]

Anya and Harmony hold no relevance to the overall story as far as I'm concerned. They're important to individuals (Xander and Spike respectively) but as far as relevance to the story goes, they have little impact. I would never include them in a wallpaper celebrating relevant females of the show. I would even have a hard time finding arguments to include Glory, as her story centers around Dawn and Buffy and without them, she wouldn't be important at all. Even Cordelia I would find slightly irrelevant, as she's more important in one single season of AtS than her entire time on BtVS.

For me, if I was making this wallpaper, I would include Buffy, Dawn, Willow, Faith and Joyce, if you wanted to concentrate on the females who impacted the overall arc the most.

 

[WillowTaraHolic]

Oz was in the credits for 2 seasons, and Tara was in them for one episode- so Oz is more important?

When was Oz ever in the opening credits?

I think my top three (For BtVS only) are: Buffy, Willow, and Faith. I think.

Then for BtVS and Angel: Buffy, Cordelia, Willow. 
Oh, and for the wallpaper, definitely switch Harmony out for Tara and Glory for Amy. I think both made more impact on the series. 🙂

 

[Lyri]

When was Oz ever in the opening credits?

Oz/Seth Green was in the opening credits from the beginning of S3 ('Anne') until he left in S4. Tara/Amber Benson was in the opening credits for one episode.

 

[Skanky Vamp]

I would include Dawn

Dawn was just a plot device. A means to kill of Buffy when the series was supposed to end. If the series ended when it was supposed to would your opinion of Dawn be different? Does her being around two extra seasons make a difference?

 

[Lyri]

If the series ended when it was supposed to would your opinion of Dawn be different?

No.

Dawn was invaluable to S5 and to Buffy's overall story that season. She was central to the plot and to Buffy's story in general, there is no question about that. What happened to Dawn that season, whether it was supposed to be the final season or not, had long last, and long reaching consequences, affecting almost every character on the show. Anya and Harmony and Cordelia, in all the time they were on the show, did not.

The same goes for every other female I've listed. ALL of the women I mentioned are integral to BUFFY'S story, that is the point. It's Buffy's story and the characters that I mentioned I feel are integral to Buffy's story and to the story of the show in general. They have emotional impact, their stories are the ones that have over-reaching consequences to Buffy and other characters.

Anya, Harmony, Cordelia and even Tara have impact on one or two characters and hardly impact Buffy herself or the overall arc at all. They're not as important as Dawn, in my opinion.

 

[Skanky Vamp]

Dawn was invaluable to S5 and to Buffy's overall story that season. She was central to the plot and to Buffy's story in general, there is no question about that. What happened to Dawn that season, whether it was supposed to be the final season or not, had long last, and long reaching consequences, affecting almost every character on the show.

But the same could be said about the scythe in the final season. Invaluable to S7 and Buffy's arc. Affected the other characters, etc.

 

[Lyri]

But the same could be said about the scythe in the final season. Invaluable to S7 and Buffy's arc. Affected the other characters, etc.

The Scythe is an inanimate object. This thread is talking about relevant CHARACTERS, specifically, female characters. I'm not saying that the Scythe wasn't/isn't important to Buffy's story, but that isn't what this thread is about.

 

[Skanky Vamp]

The Scythe is an inanimate object. This thread is talking about relevant CHARACTERS, specifically, female characters. I'm not saying that the Scythe wasn't/isn't important to Buffy's story, but that isn't what this thread is about.

Maybe that's the problem then.. I dont really see Dawn as a 'character' ... move along then. Notch that one up to old age. Ya got me.

 

[Lyri]

Maybe that's the problem then.. I dont really see Dawn as a 'character' ... move along then. Notch that one up to old age. Ya got me.

Nice. Referring to a female character as an object.