Top 5 most underrated Characters in Buffyverse

[Wesley Pryce]

Rank your five most underrated characters from the Buffy and Angel series. Characters that you love and think are as great as the ones that get all the fan glory.

---------- Post added at 08:43 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:18 PM ----------

My personal top five are as follows:
1. Lorne- This is perhaps and arguably one of the richest characters in the entire Buffyverse. Lorne is compassionate,caring, and yet masks a dark side underneath it all. He was the one not to judge unless he had to. The character to always listen and be there for everyone while few were interested in what was going on with him. He was the spiritual and psychological therapist to Angel and perhaps one of Angels closest friends and yet somehow is the Most underrated character of them all.
2. Holland Manners- I love Lindsey McDonald and Lilah Morgan so every bit or credit and honor they get from BB fans and fans elsewhere is ENTIRELY deserving! However, if there is one character who personifies evil and Wolfram & Hart its Holland. Illogically Underrated. This one isn't even sensible. (of course none of them are) but whatever. 😛
3.Charles Gunn- This character is quite rich,and has quite a journey of character progression throughout ATS. YET, he still somehow remains VERY underrated. a mystery.
4.Riley Finn-This guy was hilarious and played the "soldier boy" quite well. The farm boy far from home and the confident man who's now insecure as he falls in love with a woman whom doesn't require his strong protection. quite considerably underrated
5.Warren- I don't think this guy gets enough credit for playing one of the best villains on either show,so evil and yet you get where he comes from, you don't condone it but it isn't a mystery either. quite underrated.

 

[Blaze]

Well, this is going to be controversial. Let's just say that I like a lot of the "most hated character" in the verse.

1. Kate

I often hear very mixed opinions on her, but I've heard a LOT of bad stuff being said about her character, and honestly I don't really get it. I think sometimes people dislike her just based on the fact that she distrusts Angel and vampires. All I can think about is that this woman has just about every reason imaginable to act like she does. I find her character to be pretty tragic, from being a cop under the pressure of fallowing her father's step, to having this huge secret to keep about vampires and risking her job and life, to having her family murdered. I feel bad for her, and it kind of surprises me every time I hear someone say that they hate her and her attitude.

2. Kennedy

This one is pretty self explanatory. Why do I think she's underrated? Well here we have this potential who actually loves her job, treats Willow pretty much as good as you can treat your girlfriend, defends her point of view and stands up for yourself. Now lets take a few steps back and see why most people hate the potential: they were whiney, they seemed useless, they were irrelevant in half the scenes they were in and therefore just stealing screen time. Now lets go back to Kennedy, who is none of those things, yet people still hate her. If there was one potential that should have been liked, it should have been Kennedy, but people still hate her.

3. Lorne

Okay, this one I don't actually hear any unwarranted hate...because I just don't hear anything period. It's seriously as though this fun loving green horned demon gets no love at all. The guy deserves a bit more love. And I guess I'm just as guilty because I'm very indifferent to Lorne, but I still feel he deserves a spot on this underrated list.

4. Dawn

Another very much hated character that I feel deserves more love. If you watch Dawn grow from s5 to s7, you realize that she's actually an amazing complex character. Here we are in a world full of adults (even the Scoobs felt somewhat like adults in highschool), and we get Dawn who is to this day what I believe to be one of the best written teenager on TV. Seriously, we hate Dawn because we don't want to remind ourselves that we were just as annoying as a kid. But even if Dawn is annoying, she's an extremely well built character, and Michelle is one amazing actress.

5. Jonathan

With him I just think more people should appreciate Jonathan for the fact that he was there almost from the beginning until the end. In my opinion he was always much more likeable than Andrew, and the guy actually had redeeming qualities. Kind of sad that he was overlooked even by Buffy, because honestly I'm not sure he would have done what he did in s6 if they had treated him a bit differently.

As a side note, Xander and Gunn were the two others I had in mind when making my list.

 

[WillowTaraHolic]

Right now, I'm just gonna do two, but I'll post my other 3 later.


1. Kennedy (Yes, coming from a Tara-obsessed person, this might be a little surprising)

I actually love Kennedy a lot, though her relationship with Willow felt a little forced and I turn my nose up to it. I mean, she was the only Potential who realized what her duty was, and didn't complain about it. All the other Potentials annoyed the crap out of me with their complaints and whines. Kennedy was DEFINITELY the most fit out of that group to be the next Slayer. Plus, I sorta liked the idea of her and Willow together, it just wasn't executed well and their sex scene unsettled me a lot in 'Touched'. (Not that I really enjoy watching that stuff anyway)

Overall, I really do love Kennedy. She could have been so much more, and I know she wasn't handled well in s7, but why the hate?

2. Xander

I know he can be mean and ridiculous and stupid at times, but I'm actually very surprised at the amount of hate Xander gets! I thought he was a great character! I mean, he was the only 'normal' person in the group, and I felt he was pretty easy to relate to at times (Though I felt he didn't have as many challenges, considering we were all focused on Willow, Dawn, Buffy, Anya, and Giles for most of the seasons.) What was really heartbreaking, though, was when Xander lost his eye. I know a lot of people say this, but I think it is true. Xander's best talent was to watch, use the senses that he was born with. He had nothing else, nothing special like everyone else. But then part of that talent was torn away when Caleb injured his eye so terribly. I really feel for him. 🙁

 

[Ethan Reigns]

1. Ethan Raynes

You know it's going to be fun when he shows up. Underrated and underutilized, he would have been a central character in the "Ripper" series if it had ever launched.

2. Clem

The most sociable demon of all, he even babysits for Dawn. Just don't let Miss Kitty Fantastico near him.

3. Kennedy

The only potential who actually relished the job of slayer and gives Willow some relief from her grief and also helps break Amy's spell.

4. Dawn

Probably the best acted part of a teenage girl ever. This does not necessarily mean likeable. You never get the impression that Michelle Trachtenberg is an actress portraying a role - she really becomes the most believable character in the series.

5. Lorne

Abundant talent in a character who helped AI more than any other external agency.

Honourable mention to Hinton Battle for his flawless portrayal of Sweet, the demon in "Once More with Feeling". In terms of acting, this is the best portrayal of any character in any series in the history of television.

 

[Blaze]

[MENTION=12570]Wesley Pryce[/MENTION]; agrees: I agree with all of this,every one. BUt why are you indifferent to LOrne,im just curious

I don't event think I can really answer that. I guess I just didn't really click with his character, but I also haven't seen AtS in so long, my opinion might be different if I were to watch the show now.

 

[Wesley Pryce]

I'm glad Lorne is getting his proper due respect here,well deserved 🙂 Good taste so far not only in regards to Lorne but all the other characters. @Blaze i love Kate and Jonathan, and @Ethan Reigns, I think Ethan would have been a great Big Bad in a "brains behind the brawn" kind of role like Lex Luthor. with a big monster under his magic control or something to that affect at least lol 😀

 

[Fuffy Baith]

This is a good question. It's tough to think of 5 characters that are underrated.

Kate-I know there are people that don't like Kate, and on first watch I didn't like her either, but when I rewatched it I really enjoyed her character and where's she's coming from. I was sad to see her go.

Lorne-He is probably my 2nd favorite character in AtS(Fred is #1). For me, the introduction of Lorne in s2 (along with Darla) is what hooked me into the show, since s1 was just ok. He's super funny, but has a lot of dimensions to his character. And that last scene in 'Not Fade Away' was just gut wrenching, I really felt for him.

Jonathan-I love Jonathan, except for 'Superstar' and his death is just so sad to me, I wanna cry. I'm glad that they brought him back in season six. And I like that he stays true to his character and feels guilty about the bad stuff that happened.

Doyle-I really liked Doyle in the episodes that he was in and he sacrificed himself. I would have liked to see more of him.

Mr. Trick-I'm going to throw a villain in here. I thought he was a entertaining character and very funny. He never really did much, but he was like the guy that could get you what you need and set things up. And I liked his scenes with the Mayor.

 

[Tome]

I'm sorry everyone, but Lorne is not underrated. Most fans I've heard or talked to consider him one of the best. 🙂

Underrated would be someone like Andrew, Riley, Ethan or Tara. 😛


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Also... MR FCKING TRICK!

 

[thetopher]

I my opinion there are really only a few characters who get overlooked for how great they are.

In no particular order:

1) Mr. Trick: A really, really fun villain. Jive speak, snazzy suits, modern sensibilities. This guy is awesome and, actually, was a match for Buffy in a throwdown. He is a vampire who died too soon and is sadly missed. 🙁

2) Jonathan: The definition of a cameo that slowly grew into a character through the highschool years. Got his own episode devoted to him in S4 and then became one third of a 'Big Bad', only the be killed before he could make amends by a nerdy little nobody p***k!

3) Dawn: Out of all the characters I would've liked to have seen more of Dawn after the show came to an end, I would've liked to see Dawn mature and grown, become a more confident woman. I think she would've been an awesome character. 🙂

4) Joyce: Buffy's Mom constantly gets overlooked, because she doesn't really know about the supernatural stuff on the show until later on. When she does she's accepting of Buffy (eventually) is brave in the face of danger and even sees the same good qualities in her daughter that we see. She's proud of her.
Plus, she utterly shines in Season 5, in sickness and in dating health. 🙁

5) Faith. Yeah, I know she's not 'overlooked' exactly but compared to how awesome she actually is, she should get way more credit, and praise, and her own frigging show. 🙂

 

[buffyfirstlove]

CLEM


CLEM CLEM CLEM CLEM CLEM

That is all

 

[SiegePerilous02]

1. Gunn- It's always a shame that fandom doesn't talk about Gunn that much. Everyone seems to like him, but he's nobody's favorite. I personally think he deserves the title of "champion" more than most of the other characters, as he didn't need to be called or prompted by the Powers to do what he does. And he does it all without superpowers!

2. Kate- I liked her role as "Female Commissioner Gordon" in the early days when Angel was more of a Batman expy, especially when they subverted it with her becoming an antagonistic figure that we could sympathize with. It really sucks that the actress wanted to leave; I believe she was originally going to take on the role Justine played in S3, which would have been a thousand times more interesting.

3. Groo- The most pure hearted character in the Buffyverse, so naturally he doesn't get to stick around🙁

4. Sunday- I don't know if Sunday had more than one episode worth of material in her, but I would have liked to find out. She and Mr. Trick were a pair of vampire antagonists that I would have liked to see recur more often.

5. Gwen- Like Groo, she's not a particularly deep character, but she was fun (and hot😛) and likeable and would like to have seen much more of her than we got to.

 

[Wesley Pryce]

@thetopher, no offense but I would hardly say Faith is overlooked or underrated lol. She is one of the most popular characters in the entire verse. She was offered a spinoff for crying out loud,that is anything but over looked 😀

 

[Blaze]

I'm sorry everyone, but Lorne is not underrated. Most fans I've heard or talked to consider him one of the best. 🙂

Underrated would be someone like Andrew, Riley, Ethan or Tara. 😛


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Also... MR FCKING TRICK!

To me, even though most people like Lorne, people don't appreciate him enough and barely ever talk about him. So even if he is loved he is still super underrated in the sense that people don't value him the way he should be valued.

That's also the reason characters like Tara didn't make my list, because I feel like even though her fallowing might be small, she has a group of BtVS fans that are very dedicated to her character and what she represents. So I definitely don't think she's undervalued.

I agree about Mr. Trick though! He was an awesome villain that barely ever get mentioned. He has awesome charisma. Like seriously, s3 had the best line up of villains with the Mayor, Faith and Mr. Trick.

 

[Wesley Pryce]

@Blaze you said it exactly as i think it,thank you 🙂

 

[Xin Rong]

1. Anne, or Lily, or whatever else she was called.

I think her presence in the verse is great, and really bolsters the continuity and link between Buffy and Angel.

2. Kendra

She was a little dull, but I found her to be a truly intruiging character and would loved to have seen more of her.

3. Kate

I hate her disappearance from the show, with practically no explanation, especially given the significance of her final scene.

4. Gwen

She was brilliant, although I may go with underused rather than underrated.

5. Miss Calendar

She was great, her character history was underdeveloped but intruiging, and she was funny. However, it seems that people mainly focus on her death, and understandably so, but I think it does some disservice to her previous character development and leads to her positive attributes being overlooked.

 

[Wesley Pryce]

@AnthonyCordova ,thank you and I'm interested in reading your top 5 🙂 and @Blaze I actually like Kennedy,i just am not fond of her and willow being together romantically. 😛

 

[WillowTaraHolic]

Right now, I'm just gonna do two, but I'll post my other 3 later.


1. Kennedy (Yes, coming from a Tara-obsessed person, this might be a little surprising)

I actually love Kennedy a lot, though her relationship with Willow felt a little forced and I turn my nose up to it. I mean, she was the only Potential who realized what her duty was, and didn't complain about it. All the other Potentials annoyed the crap out of me with their complaints and whines. Kennedy was DEFINITELY the most fit out of that group to be the next Slayer. Plus, I sorta liked the idea of her and Willow together, it just wasn't executed well and their sex scene unsettled me a lot in 'Touched'. (Not that I really enjoy watching that stuff anyway)

Overall, I really do love Kennedy. She could have been so much more, and I know she wasn't handled well in s7, but why the hate?

2. Xander

I know he can be mean and ridiculous and stupid at times, but I'm actually very surprised at the amount of hate Xander gets! I thought he was a great character! I mean, he was the only 'normal' person in the group, and I felt he was pretty easy to relate to at times (Though I felt he didn't have as many challenges, considering we were all focused on Willow, Dawn, Buffy, Anya, and Giles for most of the seasons.) What was really heartbreaking, though, was when Xander lost his eye. I know a lot of people say this, but I think it is true. Xander's best talent was to watch, use the senses that he was born with. He had nothing else, nothing special like everyone else. But then part of that talent was torn away when Caleb injured his eye so terribly. I really feel for him. 🙁

My other three!

3. Ethan Rayne

I honestly don't have much to say about the dude, because I don't really remember much about him, but I thought he was a pretty cool character, and I wish I could've learned more about his past relationship with Giles/Ripper. I want to know the reason why he's always appearing as a clever villain against the Scoobies, rather than an ally. What happened between Giles and him that made Giles so cold to Ethan?

4. Anya

There is actually a lot of hate for Anya out there, if you're not aware of that. It's INSANE, in my opinion. She was a little annoying at times, but I often found her pretty funny, plus she makes Xander happy. I like her backstory, and I sort of wish I could know what she was like in her prime vengeance years! I also like her relationship with Giles, it's a very cute boss-employee sort of bond that I find funny because of their clashing personalities. 🙂 Anya's great! (Plus it was also cute when she interacted with Andrew)

5. Andrew

I can't believe some people don't like Andrew! I think he's very cute and I always smile when he is in a scene, because he actually reminds me a lot of one of my cousins, who is a total introvert and a huge techie! (Yes, my family is full of interesting people, like my sister who is a lot like Glory) He may have not added much to the overall plots of the show, but I thought he was a good comic relief and was especially fun to watch with Anya and the Trio. I never really found him annoying. 😛

And there is my list. Others worth mentioning who didn't make the list:

• Warren
• Jonathan
• Clem (Is he underrated? I'm not sure, I really never see anything about him)
• Miss Kitty Fantastico (She's always underrated... you can never give her enough attention! 😀 )

 

[AnthonyCordova]

First of all, a quick two cents about Kennedy:

I don't like her acting at all. Also, she just doesn't feel right for Willow (as established by her previous relationships). She's bossy/pushy/self-righteous/sometimes rude and doesn't really appreciate her place in the order of things (which is annoying especially in the beginning when she's a total nobody asserting herself when I think to myself "who do you think you are?". Instead of yapping she should have been listening and learning first. Self-confidence and bravery are good things but those virtues need a proper context first. Kennedy's not self-confident she's self-righteous and she's not brave at all, she's rash and reckless. At least for the majority of S7) and little things like calling people names (Chloe:maggott) and other things, I just can't get with that girl at all. Anyway...

Here's 11 (sorry I couldn't help myself):

1. Druscilla...is she underrated? Possibly, she's not talked about too much I don't think. She's so dark, twisted, and insane...yet vulnerable, attractive and sweet albeit in a unquestionably dangerous and irredeemable vampire sort of way. She's a very interesting character to me.

2. Is Joyce Summers underrated? Again, I'm not sure. She's the perfect mother for Buffy on the show: she has no difficulty displaying that motherly warmth and concern and affection for Buffy and Dawn (and her friends as well). In some of the middle seasons, she acts as the glue that keeps things together and keeps Buffy grounded. She has the most important role of any of the major characters that gets most easily unnoticed and unappreciated. And I honestly cannot see anyone else in that role either. She's an iconic mother figure in television. And the episode of The Body was so effective and memorable in part because of the effectiveness of Joyce as a character in every episode leading up to it. That episode might not have been as effective if the character had not been as likeable and memorable.

3. Ethan Rayne: I almost liked what wasn't said or shared about him more than anything else. No other minor character in the Buffyverse intrigues/fascinates me as much or makes me desire to learn more about him. It is one of the great misfortunes that we never got to learn more about him. His character gets me speculating about all kinds of things regarding him and his past alongside 'Ripper' as well as speculating about his outlook and philosophy of spreading chaos simply for its own sake. If I ever wrote fanfic, I would start with him (both before his time on Buffy during the Ripper days and whatever happened after his last appearance).

4. The circle of the black thorn: I wish we could have spent more time on learning about the various interesting members somehow. It's not that they are underrated (I'm not sure that is actually the relevant issue in their case) so much as I wish I could have learned more about them, because they were intriguing and I wanted to learn how they got into their positions and explore their psychology and positions. I'll throw them on the list anyway.

5. Holland Manners: Creepy and very effective.

6. Gwen Raiden: There are a lot of interesting aspects to her character. I like the quality of her character that hides as much as it reveals (she always seemed to have more secrets about herself that were only hinted at...and I liked that there was a cloud of mystery around her. It was very appealing). I was disappointed with the show resolving everything about her story so soon. They should have realized that her effectiveness and appeal lied in the fact that many of her details were shrouded in mystery. And they should have utilized her a little more.

7. Lilah Morgan: because she gives such a memorable and compelling performance and because she is an interesting, realistic (human) expression of an immoral person and an immoral position/philosophy. Others see her as straight-forward evil but I see her differently: she occupies an interesting place. She's undoubtably a very bad person and wholly committed to bad things, but even she has real elements of humanity in herself...which is the truth about evil in the real world...it is extremely rare to find in its pure form. Like everything else, it usually comes in shades of gray. Which is one reason why I like Lilah...she demonstrates that.

8. Whistler: He kind of had a "film-noir" feel to him (and he gave that to the episodes he had a role in) and he was such a catalyst of things for having such a small role. He's another character I would add to the pile of "I wish we got to know them better" people. He intrigued me though, despite the fact I barely knew him.

9. Skip: I liked the unlikely combination of his affable everyman demeanor with his important role and intimidating looks. His screen time was always fun. I wonder about his past as well....I guess that's the theme for me, if you were a minor character who intrigued me enough to wonder about your past (or future after the show) then you deserve a lot of credit.

10. Quintin Travers: He's not likeable, but he wasn't supposed to be. He's extremely effective in his authoritarian role. For that, he was perfect. I didn't like him in the sense that I would ever want to be his friend in real life, but I liked him in the sense that he embodies the stiff and formal and oh-so-serious watchers council perfectly. I also wonder about his past too.

11. Last but not least, Dawn: As a matter of fact, she's top 3 favorite characters of Buffy for me, easily. She demonstrates a sympathetic and believable and staggeringly broad range of emotional states (I'm thinking of Season 5) and she's an utterly believable teenager. She is the center for some of the best moments of Season 5 (or even the whole series...among the many moments is the scene/dialogue with Glory in the hospital when Glory doesn't know she's the key yet...in fact that whole episode is one fine moment after the other for Dawn). MT's acting chops are right up there and equal to anyone else on the show, at least. She was asked to do a very demanding role with the expectations of performing lots of different and challenging states and she does it all perfectly in my opinion. And IMO she isn't unreasonably annoying at all until S6, which I don't hold against her (because many of the characters were different during S6). Dawn in S5 is beyond criticism IMO.

 

[Kairos]

1. Robin Wood
2. Bethany (forgot her last name...from "Untouched")
3. Billy Fordham
4. Principal Snyder
5. Aluwyn

 

[WillowTaraHolic]

Crap! I forgot to put Dawn on my list. She would have been #3.