Strongest Character?

[bespangeled]

Count if I mention that Puppet Angel knocked easily Spike, leaving him bleeding into the elevator?

I love that! And of course it is merely coincidence that Spike leaves with keys to a new viper. 😀

 

[white avenger]

Interesting to see what people think.

I was generally talking in terms of strength, which is easier to quantify than 'who would win in a fight', because all the fights between the different characters go different ways.

It's actually harder to say who's the strongest, since the best we've ever had to go on is a couple of statements by two different vampires, both to Buffy:

Luke: "You're strong. I'm stronger." in the series opener, and,

Angel: "You can hit just a little bit harder than me."

and both of those were more opinions than a proven facts. There are both Adam and Caleb, both of whom seemed to be not only stronger than Buffy, but MUCH stronger, though they may both fall into that "special character" category with Glory, Hamilton, and Illyria.

As I said before, Buffy is conceived to be stronger, if for no reason other that that it's her show. Unless we have a Buffyverse Olympics complete with a weight lifting division, or unless Joss actually makes a statement on the matter, it's all just a guess.

As to who the strongest fighter is, as has already been stated, it depends on the circumstances. The first time that Buffy fought Spike, he almost killed her. That could just as easily been a question of Buffy underestimating Spike combined with Spike's confidence after having defeated two Slayers previously than any question of comparative strength or skill. By the same token, the one time that Spike beat Angel could have been pretty much the same thing. Angel underestimated Spike, simply because he had always been able to beat him before, which itself may have been more of a question of dominance over a hundred years of being the alpha male in the vampire group. Spike, on the other hand, had had a whole Season previously getting something that he had never experienced before. The consistent encouragement of someone who he cared deeply for. Add to that, his determination to beat Angel, if only one single time, out of something that he thought Angel wanted.

Without having an actual example of who can lift the most weight on their best day, or who can beat who on both of their best days, it's all just guess and speculation, just like the classic astronauts vs cave men question.

 

[white avenger]

bespangeled agrees: Yup - though the troll hammer did show that Buffy is way stronger than Spike.

Then again, Caleb was stronger than Buffy, but he couldn't pull the Scythe out of the stone. If the hammer was all that heavy, it would have crashed through the shelf that it was setting on, and most likely on through the floor and into the basement. Weight isn't always the only thing keeping someone from lifting a weapon, especially one of supernatural origins.

 

[Silverspike]

I just saw it as inconsistent writing in that they just altered the parameters to suit whatever story they wanted to tell.

 

[thetopher]

bespangeled agrees: Yup - though the troll hammer did show that Buffy is way stronger than Spike.

Then again, Caleb was stronger than Buffy, but he couldn't pull the Scythe out of the stone. If the hammer was all that heavy, it would have crashed through the shelf that it was setting on, and most likely on through the floor and into the basement. Weight isn't always the only thing keeping someone from lifting a weapon, especially one of supernatural origins.

I'm pretty certain that the Scythe was meant for the slayer- Buffy (or I think Faith could've pulled it out of the stone.), it wasn't a question of just strength, it was...fate maybe.

But yeah, generally the older a slayer gets the stronger she gets- I think S5 Buffy would've been physically stronger than pretty much any vampire- whether it was The Master, Luke or whomever- they had to pull out a 'bestial' vampire champion in S7 to be a match for her.

To be honest, when I posed this question Spike and Angel (I didn't want this to turn into another 'which vampire is best!' thread.) never really entered into my thinking, I was thinking a slayer, just a question of which one.

 

[Doppelgang]

Lets not forget the Judge, took a whole army to beat him originally, I love then how they take him out with a missile in a shopping center 😀

I am surprised at times how often Spike relies on Buffy to save him as the series progress, though these are often done for the sake of creating storyline dramas, but the original Spike of season 2 was actually marked out as being a very intelligent fighter who would learn the weaknesses of his opponents. There is the episode where he is recording a Buffy fight with another vampire and then he studies it later to look for weaknesses.

My overall order including some bad guys who only made short appearances would be:

1) Glory
2) The Judge
3) Adam
4) Caleb
5) Buffy
6) Uber Vamp
7) Faith
8) Angel
9) Spike
10) Drusilla
11) Darla
12) Kendra

 

[timbitsmama]

The strongest character in my eyes is Darla. She was the first vampire ever to be shown on Buffy. She had a partner for over 100 years, and when he changed, she moved on. She really has a lot of feminine, "we can do it" attitude. And I think that even though I don't like Darla, she had the most development. When she sacrificed her own life for a human child, and when she began to feel Connor's soul when she was pregnant...Wow. Those were really strong points for her character. She just changed so much. And I still think she really did start to fall for Lindsay.

 

[Caleb x Illyria]

-Illyria
-Glory
-Caleb
-Hamilton
-The Master
-The Beast
-Turok Han
-Jasmine
-Dark Willow
-Adam
-The Judge
-Sahjhan
-Skip
-Luke
-Darla
-Angelus
-Spike
-Dru
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-Buffy
-Faith
-Connor
-The Rest. 

-Illyria
-Glory
-Caleb
-Hamilton
-The Master
-The Beast
-Turok Han
-Jasmine
-Dark Willow
-Adam
-The Judge
-Sahjhan
-Skip
-Luke
-Darla
-Angelus
-Spike
-Dru
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-Buffy
-Faith
-Connor
-The Rest.

I'm missing a few I know, I'm not sure were to put Anyanka, D'Hoffryn, Angel's beast, the Groosalugg, and a few others. And from Hamilton down to Skip could be in a little different order.

 

[SiegePerilous02]

1. Buffy
2. Faith (close)
3. Angel
4. Spike
5. Groo

Connor is a bit of an oddity, so I'm not sure where to place him. He killed Sahjhan rather easily, the same demon who knocked Angel around. Yet he's had his ass kicked by both Angel and Faith. Plot hole?

 

[Caleb x Illyria]

1. Buffy
2. Faith (close)
3. Angel
4. Spike
5. Groo

Connor is a bit of an oddity, so I'm not sure where to place him. He killed Sahjhan rather easily, the same demon who knocked Angel around. Yet he's had his ass kicked by both Angel and Faith. Plot hole?

Yeah Angel and BTVS(mainly btvs) are known for having a lot of those moments.

 

[thetopher]

Connor is a bit of an oddity, so I'm not sure where to place him. He killed Sahjhan rather easily, the same demon who knocked Angel around. Yet he's had his ass kicked by both Angel and Faith. Plot hole?

Not really. If you consider that Connor is a teenager still coming into his strength then that year of growth could've been crutial to his power development.

I think that's hinted at tin the IDW comics- Connor getting more powerful as he ages. (Although that's not canon of course.)