I think Giles' dark side is probably the most interesting, as there was no real reason for it, except him being a teenagers and rebelling.
Xander was just stupid really, doing things because he didn't bother to research the consequences, he never learnt from previous mistakes.
Willow, I'm not sure if I would class it as a dark side more a moment of madness for her
Faith, I believe had been pushed over the edge by various things that had happened in her life, she was vulnerable and an easy target for the mayor to prey on.
Spike doesn't really count to me, at least not presoul.
Angel, with soul does have a dark side too, killing all the lawyers, I think he tries to contain his dark side but can't always when certain buttons are pushed
Anya is very complicated to me, I don't see it as much as a dark side, more 2 people sharing one body, the demon that did all the killing and the girl that was human, and those 2 overlap a little, almost like they are siblings and the human is in a way proud of teh older demon sibling. (not sure if I'm explaining it well, too early in the morning)
Oh, yes - one thing I wish we had a chance to see more of is Ripper. I hate to say it but I love the scene of him taking Ethan apart with such cold and clinical detachment.
Xander acted without thought but I'm including him because he certainly knew better - he was in the magic shop. He had seen more than once why you did not mess with magical artifacts. I can't say he could reasonably argue any lack of knowledge. I'd be more likely to say his dark side shows up as passive aggressive hurtful behavior which he can claim he should not be blamed for. We saw this earlier in the hyena episode - however much Xander was actually responsible, his decision not to own and apologize was a key to his character.
Willow's dark side also included an attempt to kill both Buffy and dawn, as well as a lust for power. Even she differentiated herself from her normal self - the loser and addict. Besides, she calls it going dark in that wonderful scene with Wesley.
I agree that Faith was uniquely vulnerable, but she also knew good from bad. She just chose to be bad, to embrace her dark side. There are plenty of people from the same background who embrace the other side and swear they will never be like those who hurt them. To deny Faith's responsibility is to ignore those who don't take that path.
I can see why you didn't chose Spike until he got a soul - no moral compass.
Yes, Angel can go dark, and that's a great example. Setting Dru and Darla on fire is another example - not just the choice but the comment "Who was that?"
Anya bewilders me since she supposedly had a soul while she was massacring humans. And once she was dumped at the altar she chooses to go back to vengeance. Yes, she took back two of her choices, but we know there were others.
I love your post - very well thought out for early in the morning.
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What's Riley's dark side?
Being complicit in torturing demons regardless of if they are evil. It's something Buffy mentioned when she came on board - not all demons are evil - and something that was completely dismissed. And the suck jobs - he put everyone in danger with that. Had he been turned there would have been one helluva danger.
Well, I'm not condoning Xander's actions, but I personally don't think that was his dark side coming out or anything. He was just stupid.
Giles definitely has a dark side, with the whole Ripper stuff. But with Ben, I never minded that as much as many do. They wanted to kill Glory and that would have killed him anyway. I can understand feeling better about it with Glory driving, but if you view Ben as innocent (which for the record I don't really) then you're still killing an innocent man by killing her.
Willow started off probably one of the most imbalanced, but since getting magic back she seems to have accepted both sides rather than constantly compartmentalizing.
Buffy and Faith both have darkness in them due to the demonic origin of their power. I think the reason Faith is so hard to beat is because she gave in to that darkness, that killer instinct... and so did Buffy when she stabbed Faith in the gut.
Vampires are human-demon hybrids, so it makes sense that they'd have two sides. I think Angel's personalities were more differentiated than Spikes, but then Spike did some good without a soul, something I can't believe Angelus would ever entertain.
Anya, in my opinion, only had her past dealt with seriously in "Selfless" which is why I was annoyed by the character quite a lot. They regularly had her reminiscing about past slaughter and played it for comedy and I don't find it remotely funny that she murdered countless people. In "Selfless" I think they finally approached it with the seriousness it deserved. But as for conflicting sides, I don't recall anything of the sort with her. No remorse or guilt. That's part of why I'm not as fond of her; despite her having some admittedly very funny lines.
Xander knew he was taking a huge risk summoning a demon. If nothing else that was reckless endangerment and depraved indifference which does count as murder. He willfully disregarded possible consequences, although his very life showed what can happen when a demon is summoned.
Yeah, I'm with you on the killing of Ben, but I do need to point out that this is the first character who is killed not for what he did but for what he might do in the future. That's important because it's the same rationale used when Giles conspires to kill Spike. Angel is trusted after he is resoled despite the fact that he committed multiple murders. Spike is not given that same chance.
Willow was taken by her darkness for very understandable reasons, but while under the influence of darkness she flayed Warren (I have no real problems with that, but then she attacked Buffy and Anya and tried to destroy Dawn, Jonathan and Andres.
I completely agree on both Faith and Buffy - they gave into the darkness which they inherited. I also agree on Spike and Angel once Spike had a soul he never gave into the darkness. I'm not sure if the fact that his soul was a gift and Angel's was a curse had anything to do with that.
And I agree on Anya - once they said vengeance demons had souls they upended the entire mythos. Anya had a soul when she killed but never showed remorse. She chose vengeance without any qualms, and stopped only because she was forced to stop when she lost her power center. Even as a human she never seemed to have any regret or remorse about her prior actions.
Good points!
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