Smarter Team: Angel Investigations vs. The Scoobies

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Which demon fighting gang, were smarter and worked better as a team? The Scoobies in Sunnydale or Angel Investigations in Los Angeles?
 
That's a tough one. Both teams had brains, dedication, and muscle but they both lacked trust at important times.

I think I'd give a slight edge to Angel Investigations; Wes brings the watcher knowledge, Cordy has Sunnydale experience, Gunn has street smarts, Fred had book smarts and Angel has experience.
 
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brinkster130 said:
Wes brings the watcher knowledge, Cordy has Sunnydale experience, Gunn has street smarts, Fred had book smarts and Angel has experience.
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So break down the Scoobys.. and I dont think it counts to say Xander is the heart. What tangible thing does Xander bring? What is the main Scooby gang? Would Tara/Anya be included? I always considered Giles, Willow, Xander, Buffy to be the scoobies.. if that's the case there is no comparison team Angel is better.
 
Kinda both actually.
I think we see the Angel Investigations working much better as a team- their all seasoned demon fighters by the end of S2, but the Scoobies tend to have more smarts when it comes to the investigating side of things.
Giles and Willow are way book smart when it comes to demons, magic and the occult, wheras really the only researcher worth a damn in AI is Wes, who seems to be constantly doing the heavy lifting whenever it comes to the research.
 
Mr. Pole said:
So break down the Scoobys.. and I dont think it counts to say Xander is the heart. What tangible thing does Xander bring? What is the main Scooby gang? Would Tara/Anya be included? I always considered Giles, Willow, Xander, Buffy to be the scoobies.. if that's the case there is no comparison team Angel is better.
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Giles brings the watcher knowledge, Willow the research skill and magic, Buffy the muscles and Xander is the support (?). I mean, whatever job they give him, we kniw he'll try his best....Xander is the weakest link imo. Even if we included Anya and Tara I don't know that they would bring enough to the table to overpower team Angel. Admittedly Willow would be the wild card because we've seen how smart and powerful she can be, she just doesn't use it in productive ways.
 
At the peak of each team I go with AI. You got Angel and Gunn the muscle, Fred and Wesley the brains, Lorne with the demon/magic connections, Cordy with the visions and moral support. I think they worked well as a team in that they each, eventually, know their roles but all step up to do the heavy lifting when needed be. Buffy at it's peak was maybe S5? Anya I think could have brought more of her demon vengeance knowledge, and Tara is just a support character to Willow mostly but she's similar to Xander. Xander is like the assistant to every one in the group, who occasionally steps up and does his own thing. When they work together they work great but it's not as consistent I think as AI. I feel the lack of cell phone use greatly on Buffy, whereas it really helps team Angel.
 
Fuffy Baith said:
At the peak of each team I go with AI. You got Angel and Gunn the muscle, Fred and Wesley the brains, Lorne with the demon/magic connections, Cordy with the visions and moral support. I think they worked well as a team in that they each, eventually, know their roles but all step up to do the heavy lifting when needed be. Buffy at it's peak was maybe S5? Anya I think could have brought more of her demon vengeance knowledge, and Tara is just a support character to Willow mostly but she's similar to Xander. Xander is like the assistant to every one in the group, who occasionally steps up and does his own thing. When they work together they work great but it's not as consistent I think as AI. I feel the lack of cell phone use greatly on Buffy, whereas it really helps team Angel.
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Agreed.

Also on the AI team Wesley doubles as muscle as well. At least after season 3. And Cordy learns her way around a broadsword way better than most Scoobies.
So in general the AI team is a stronger more efficient unit in my opinion. Most of them, if cornered and without back up, could make it out of a tough spot.
 
Oh, I didn't realise that these guys were going to be fighting each other.

In that case I'd go with Team Angel- overall they're just better co-ordinated in a fight.
 
thetopher said:
Oh, I didn't realise that these guys were going to be fighting each other.

In that case I'd go with Team Angel- overall they're just better co-ordinated in a fight.
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Fighting each other? The question was who worked better as a team, no?
 
brinkster130 said:
Even if we included Anya and Tara I don't know that they would bring enough to the table to overpower team Angel.
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Isn't this implying some sort of face-off?

Anyway, I can think of no real reason why these two teams would end up scrapping, can anyone else? Might be a fun exercise.
 
Well the questions a bit too broad for a straight answer as both teams change in personnel and abilities all the time. Since everyone is going with AI though I'll put in a word for the scoobies. First off you've got Giles with more experience as a watcher than Wes as well as a dark magical past to draw upon. Then we have Willow and Oz. Both smart enough to attract the attention of a shadowy government outfit. Willow also brings tech support, crazy hacking skills and magical reinforcement. Then Buffy and Xander bring an element of creative thinking. Both have come up with good plans throughout the show. Obviously Buffy adds muscle and Xander is heroic with a great ability to be in the right place at the right time.
 
I think the scoobies have the potential to be better, Giles was shown in the earlier seasons to have been more than just the researcher, Anya has 1000 years of knowledge that really should have been made use of more, Willow was more than just the witch, in the earlier seasons we saw her plan through research and computers, Xander had ideas that were more out the box, but worked out well, he could have been made use of more. Tara we saw use little magic once Willow became the big witch, she could have taken on a bigger role in that way.
 
thetopher said:
Isn't this implying some sort of face-off?

Anyway, I can think of no real reason why these two teams would end up scrapping, can anyone else? Might be a fun exercise.
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Ah, I suppose. I was looking at the original question in the first post, hence my confusion.
 
thetopher
thetopher
No, I think you were right, I just thought that I missed the point of the original question. :)
Upon further reflection and reading some of the comments, maybe that is why the Scoobies were called a Gang and AI was called a Team. The connotations between the two would seem to fit.
 
Mr. Pole said:
Upon further reflection and reading some of the comments, maybe that is why the Scoobies were called a Gang and AI was called a Team. The connotations between the two would seem to fit.
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And also, each possessed different motives and situations. Angel Investigations was a business. Yes, Cordy had visions allocated by the Powers That Be to facilitate Angel's atonement and yes, they fought the good fight; but Angel Investigations had clients and faced interaction with people of the law all the time (e.g. Wolfram&Hart, LAPD).

As for the scoobies, they were a group of friends who assisted Buffy in her destiny. The scoobies also fought the good fight, but mostly only faced demons and the big bad rather than people in need of help. Each group did very well in their respective situations, considering their surroundings. The scoobies lived in the small town of Sunnydale so it was easy so stumble across demons to fight; but of course Buffy did patrol a lot. The ATS cast lived in L.A., a much bigger city, so Cordy's visions definitely helped the team find demons to fight.
 
I think the comparison isn't fair. Most of the AI team were trained to fight evil
Angel-vampire
Gunn-trained to kill vampires, was already a leader in demon fighting, been doing this for a long time
Cordy-gifted with vision
Lorne-familiar to the demon scene/has lots of connections
Fred-lived in a demon dimension
Illyria-super powers
Wes-watcher

Now if we look at the Scoobie gang, most are just civilians that aren't really trained for this
Giles-watcher
Bufffy-slayer
Willow-witch
Riley-same as Gunn
Xander-?
Dawn-?
Anya-?
Tara-?
Oz-? when he's not a werewolf


All of the ? might be slightly trained or have some type of power, but really never to the extent where it is useful. It's actually pretty impressive that they do that good for themselves. The Scoobies to me are more of a bunch of regular dudes that joined too fight the forces of evil, but they don't really have the training to do so. They mostly just jumped into it. The AI gang has the advantage of each being trained or useful in a very specific field.
 
In defense of Scooby gang, can I say that the three main AI's members, before becoming a team, they grew to the Scoobies school? But later, they have definitely outgrown their teachers in skill.
 
janas said:
In defense of Scooby gang, can I say that the three main AI's members, before becoming a team, they grew to the Scoobies school? But later, they have definitely outgrown their teachers in skill.
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I would disagree.. two (angel and cordy) MAYBE, but Angel could be a stretch as the only real thing he did on Buffy was turn evil... I would say Cordy learned from the Scoobers. Only thing Wesley learned was Cordy wasn't a good kisser and how to fall on the ground and whimper like a puppy as people ran atop you attacking the Mayor with hummus.
 
@Mr. Pole in Btvs
Angel has learned the value of the mission.
Wesley saw his first real Apocalypse (not only those described in the books of the Watcher's Council)
Cordelia has learned that the world is not only "expensive dresses" Now she knows that exist vampires and all kinds monsters.

This's the basis on which they later will create the team AI.
 
janas said:
@me in Btvs
Angel has learned the value of the mission.
Wesley saw his first real Apocalypse (not only those described in the books of the Watcher's Council)
Cordelia has learned that the world is not only "expensive dresses" Now she knows that exist vampires and all kinds monsters.
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Angel's a toss-up, I could believe or not. I could argue he learned as much or more from Doyle than he did from the Scoobies. He was never really part of the team.
Wesley's first apocalypse was viewed from being knocked to the ground and, if memory recalls, unconscious. That's why I don't really think Wesley that much. I am sure when we went hunting the Rogue Demon he learned more.

Cordy, yeah, a Sunnydale education served her well.
 
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