Which Buffy character on Angel had the best development?

J

Joshua

Huge Spuffy Fan!
Joined
Nov 23, 2011
Messages
1,392
Age
34
Location
Sunnydale
Okay the title sounds weird and odd but I couldn't figure out how to say it. Anyways which character had the best character development? The characters who went on from Buffy to Angel

Angel himself
Cordelia
Wesley
Spike
Faith
Andrew (does his 2 episodes count?)
 
Another vote for Wesley. Maybe I'm bias because he's my favorite, but the guy had awesome development. And it might have been a bit cliche to do the whole gone dark trope, but it was well done, and it fitted his character. I feel like out of all the characters, his development was not only the most logical, but they've always manage to keep the old Wesley in there. When you look at his progress, even in s4 or 5 of AtS, Wesley still maintain some of his qualities from s3 of BtVS.
 
Hmn I could make a case for Faith, since it only took 5 episodes and some really great writing to turn her from 'the path that Buffy could've taken' through 'sociopath crazy somebody's that Angel can actually save' to 'awesome, kickass slayer in her own right' a few years later.

But really, it's Wesley no contest. He actually changed the most and the best over the seasons. It was certainly the most fun to watch as well. The rise and fall of a good man, undone by his own character faults and then dying tragically.
I'll vote for him- he also happens to be one of favourite characters as well.

I mean, I like Angel, and he goes through a lot throughout 5 seasons- but that's still 100 episodes of character development he had. And at the end of it he's grown but he's still fundementally the same guy.

Cordelia- if I'm honest I don't care for that much Cordelia after 'Waiting In The Wings', although her swansong episode 'You're Welcome' shows what a great character she is.

Spike had a lot more character development on Angel than he did on Buffy, but still it didn't really last.
 
Wesley. Hands down.

In fact I'd say he has what is quite possibly the best development of any character in the Buffyverse. And yes, I suppose the W&H memory wipe at the end of S4 caused him to more or less revert to his "less dark" ways. But the memory wipe didn't seem to have taken away his relationship with Lilah (which I would consider dark no matter what his memory of Connor), so overall in S5 he still retained a bit of the edge he had developed over the seasons.

You really have to give it to the writers for staying true to his character, and to AD for playing him convincingly.

I think Angel had some good development post-BTVS as well. I mean, he is a 240someting year old vampire; you can't expect him to grow and change as much as someone else on the trajectory of a normal human lifespan. If anything, though, this show gave us a chance to see much more of him than we did on BTVS, where, particularly in S3, he was sort of just relegated to "love interest" status. We didn't get to see much of how funny he could be, or how dark he could be (even as the souled Angel). So I guess it wasn't so much a development as it was an exploration of all the things they couldn't show when he was on BTVS.
 
Aud said:
and to AD for playing him convincingly.
Click to expand...
Yes, I think that doesn't get mentioned enough. I hear people talk about Sarah, David and Alyson but I think Denisof gets enough recognition. From his slapsticky comedy start in Buffy to what he became, he did a good job with it.
 
As much as I love Faith, it's Wesley. He's the only character where you don't have to watch Buffy to understand his character development. Faith's character arc starts on Buffy and while it has great development on Angel, she comes back to Buffy to finish her story off. Cordelia, you also have to know who she was on Buffy to appreciate who she became, but they just messed her whole character up in the end. But I agree 'Your Welcome' sort of redeems the character that we loved. I' not going to count Andrew. Spike has some good stuff in s5 but it all starts in Buffy around s4. And yea there not much you can do with Angel because that is who he is, you can only explore different sides in varying degrees but he always has to come back to being the hero, because that's why we watch the show.
 
Surely Wesley!
...but talking about growth I must should also mention Connor, I mean... in season three he was just a newborn and in season five he was already in college. How many people can say that? 😛
Well... apart Dawn, obviously.
 
thetopher
thetopher
Yeah, If we're talking PHYSICAL change then Connor wins easily, all Wes did was hit the gym and grow a beard. :)
Fuffy Baith
Fuffy Baith
lol. good point. but Connor was never on Buffy though.
AnthonyCordova
AnthonyCordova
that's some serious growth
Blaze said:
Another vote for Wesley. Maybe I'm bias because he's my favorite, but the guy had awesome development. And it might have been a bit cliche to do the whole gone dark trope, but it was well done, and it fitted his character. I feel like out of all the characters, his development was not only the most logical, but they've always manage to keep the old Wesley in there. When you look at his progress, even in s4 or 5 of AtS, Wesley still maintain some of his qualities from s3 of BtVS.
Click to expand...

That's the genius there - a character who changes and yet retains so much of who he is throughout. I love Wesley's arc, and AD did a brilliant job with it. I also felt that, of all the characters the mind wipe was worst for him. He had gone through so much, grown so much, and it just seems wrong to take that away. He didn't retain his memories of Lilah as far as I can tell - the mind wipe was done after the father killed the son (lovely irony there). nonetheless his character changes in such believable increments that there are never any sour notes.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jom
To be honest, I'm not quite sure...

But after all this agreement about Wesley I do feel a need to say that I don't like his development particular much. lol
I thought they went way too far with it and that it was an unnecessary change.
The show needed a character like old Wesley imho but instead we got this completely different, darker, character. A role that I think Angel filled well enough.

I guess it would be between Cordelia and Faith for me.
Probably Faith. I think they did a good job turning her good while still manage to keep her attitude fairly intact.

/SK
 
bespangeled said:
That's the genius there - a character who changes and yet retains so much of who he is throughout. I love Wesley's arc, and AD did a brilliant job with it. I also felt that, of all the characters the mind wipe was worst for him. He had gone through so much, grown so much, and it just seems wrong to take that away. He didn't retain his memories of Lilah as far as I can tell - the mind wipe was done after the father killed the son (lovely irony there). nonetheless his character changes in such believable increments that there are never any sour notes.
Click to expand...

I agree about the mind wipe thing. It's part of the reason why I dislike that storyline so much. Not only on a writing perspective (I think they cornered themselves and took an easy way out), but also as a storyline. I totally get why Angel did it, don't get me wrong, but I still think it was wrong for Angel to make that decision. He did what a father should do, but it affected so many of the characters in a way that they had no say in. Sure, it was done for the greater good of everyone, but I would never ever want someone to have that power over me where they can change my life without my consent. To me, that is a big violation of who I am.

One thing I am glad though, is that even having taken away some stuff, Wesley kept growing in s5 and kept evolving. He maintained the maturity he had acquired and again, he maintain the traits that made him Wesley. I think like others have said, we have AD to thank for that because he always made the character so believable. This man is way underrated as an actor. I also love Wesley's reaction to losing Fred compared to Wesley's reaction to losing the gang in s5 and s3 respectively. We are truly shown how he evolved over the course of the years and how his reactions differs. His mind might have been erased about Connor, but he kept enough of how he had grown over those years still to react in a complete different manner when he loses the love of his life.
 
Blaze said:
I agree about the mind wipe thing. It's part of the reason why I dislike that storyline so much...
One thing I am glad though, is that even having taken away some stuff, Wesley kept growing in s5 and kept evolving..
Click to expand...
But a good portion of his growth as a character occurred after he stole Connor. His love affair with Lilah. Keeping Justine hostage while they looked for Angel, his friends abandoning him, etc. Without Connor, why and how did he separate from Angel, Inc in the first place? Did he love and lose Lilah? That's some of the issues I have with that season, it had overwritten alot of character development.
 
Mr. Pole said:
But a good portion of his growth as a character occurred after he stole Connor. His love affair with Lilah. Keeping Justine hostage while they looked for Angel, his friends abandoning him, etc. Without Connor, why and how did he separate from Angel, Inc in the first place? Did he love and lose Lilah? That's some of the issues I have with that season, it had overwritten alot of character development.
Click to expand...

I also agree with this. Another reason why I don't like the whole whipping memory trope. I just think with Wesley for some odd reason he maintained the development he made in previous seasons. Not sure that makes sense in the continuity of the show at all, but at least Wesley's growth didn't feel disjointed even if it should have been.
 
I just started a thread on the reasons - and the right of Angel to wipe/alter three years of memories from his friends in order to give false memories to his son.
 
My top 3 would be
1) Wesley (think he's the only real example of a male character going through that massive a transformation and it never felt forced to me)
2) Cordelia (Everything from season 1 up to the first half of season 3... then she takes a nose dive until her s5 appearance, but the development is still rich overall)
3) Faith (as I've said on other threads, IMO the best redemption arc in the verse.)
 
Well, aside from Angel himself, I'd go with:

1. Wesley
2. Faith
3. Cordelia- third only because of the crap she went through in some parts of season 3, and especially 4. 5 was back on track though; if only she was there for the whole season instead of one episode.

It really makes me wish we had gotten to see the planned storyarc for Oz in season 6. He was always woefully underused in BtVS, I would have loved to see what AtS would have done with him.
 
Fuffy Baith
Fuffy Baith
Oz on AtS. Yes!!! I always wanted Oz to come back and he never did :(
It HAS to be Andrew!

From geek loser on Buffy, he takes Dana, the psychotic slayer, away from Angel Investigations and in TGIQ, he ends up with two girls in his apartment, sort of reminiscent of Johnathan in "Superstar" who has two Swedish girls (was one of them you, Taake?) waiting for him in his mansion, but unlike Johnathan, he does it without massive mind wipes of everyone around him. It is every bit as extreme as Wesley's transition from bumbling buffoon to badass but it does not seem to be as jarring a disconnect.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom