Which Character had the Most Development?

[sisterofmercy]

Throughout the show, quite a lot of the characters have undergone rather dramatic transformations from their introduction.

Obviously there's Buffy growing from a child who didn't want to be a slayer into a self-assured woman who used her power to lead others. Then there's Willow who went from shy geek to confident witch (though personally I think her character slightly regressed in S7), and Anya/Spike from enemies to allies. Then Jonathan, Giles, Wes, Cordelia, etc..

So who in your opinion had the best or most interesting development throughout the show? Either from Buffy or Angel.

 

[WiccanWillow91]

I think Willow had the most development. She went from being this geeky little nerd girl, to being this badass witch! Plus going from like Xander to Oz to Tara! I never expected her to become a lesbian, but Her and Tara were perfect for each other!

 

[BuffyElevated]

I definitely think Wesley developed the most. Look at where he started and where he ended up. He was a bumbling, goofy clown when we first met him and he became this intense, dark badass before "Angel" was over. I loved it!

 

[zobothehobo]

I'm voting for Spikey.

 

[Taake]

I'm gong to vote for Wesley too. He had a truly fascinating character arc that changed him completely from the guy we got to know in Buffy s3 to how he ended up in Angel s5.

Wes, though an adult on the shows, really grew up on them and really got to know himself and his capabilities. Plus his story never gets tired or stagnant. Well written to the last punctuation. 🙂 He was one of the characters who also remained true to some kind of internal core belief while changing and challenging all about himself around it. And he learned from his mistakes.

The more I think about it the more I love his whole journey!

 

[Icarium]

The one with the most development would probably be Buffy but a lot of it was terrible (cough, S7, cough). Overall I like Wesley's journey a lot more.

 

[prophecygrrl]

Cordelia for me, but it was really hard to choose! Buffy, Spike, Faith, and Wesley come close. I think Cordelia's journey is just brilliant. While she wasn't the most dramatically changed (Spike changing from the Big Bad to a champion is almost a complete reversal of his role, for example), I think she was the one with the greatest development, if that makes sense lol. I just think it's really well written and her potential to be a hero is hinted at/established even on BtVS and it's great to watch her develop into that. I HATE how her arc ended, but ugh. That wasn't her, that was something that happened to her.

 

[Hale Caesar]

Cordelia or Wesley

Cordy started off as a superficial bully and turned into a powerful part-demon badass who is just as strong as Buffy, IMO. Or Wesley the clumsy, scared watcher who turned into a pistol packing winner.

 

[PrincessBuffy16]

Cordelia. I think she's the character who grew the most over the years. From frightened and self concentrated child to strong and wise women.

 

[Fusions2]

Cordy, Faith, Willow and Wesley seem to stand out as the most developed characters over the years of being on both Buffy and Angel. When you look back at them from start to finish its almost like looking at two completely different characters.

 

[BuffyThoughts]

I'd almost agree ...

Cordelia. I think she's the character who grew the most over the years. From frightened and self concentrated child to strong and wise women.

My problem is that I never bought that transformation. I don't think she changed. I think she was changed, by the writers, from the outside.

The way I read it, either the character or the actress, or maybe both, developed a constituency, among the fans or among the producers, or both. Somebody wanted to see more of Charisma playing Cordelia. That meant they couldn't allow her to remain a comic-relief minor villain, as she was in the earliest episodes. They had to make her likable and more interesting. I can imagine the brain-storming ... "what can we do to make Cordelia likable? What admirable characteristics can we give her?"

In "Killed By Death," she suddenly becomes a straight-talking "what you see is what you get" type. That's likable. But it came out of nowhere. Remember in "Reptile Boy," when Cordelia was reading a book on how to attract boys that told her to laugh at everything they said? When exactly did she decide not to be a phony?

 

[TeamSunnydale]

cordelia, willow and wesley stand out for me.
cordelia went from being a superficial bully to be a decent person, to being a champion who would be willing to sacrifice herself. she even made herself part demon 🙂
willow went from being a shy geek, to coming out of her shell and being in a relationship, to coming out as a lesbian and being with tara, to becoming a powerful and dangerous witch and killing someone, to reforming and becoming equally powerful in a good way 🙂
wesley <3 went from being an annoying, geeky watcher, to being less uptight, then being more likeable and still clever and he managed to stay strong in that season 3 issue with connor. then he went into a dark place, and was shunned from his friends and started an unhealthy relationship with lilah and drinking. then he came back to team angel but still had to stay strong.

 

[Taake]

My problem is that I never bought that transformation. I don't think she changed. I think she was changed, by the writers, from the outside.

The way I read it, either the character or the actress, or maybe both, developed a constituency, among the fans or among the producers, or both. Somebody wanted to see more of Charisma playing Cordelia. That meant they couldn't allow her to remain a comic-relief minor villain, as she was in the earliest episodes. They had to make her likable and more interesting. I can imagine the brain-storming ... "what can we do to make Cordelia likable? What admirable characteristics can we give her?"

I agree to a certain extent. Cordy's character was (on Ats) based on somebody's wish to see more of Charisma... (David Greenwalt I believe 😉 Joss too surely.)

I do like Cordy and for the most part the changes her character went through (nope don't love it all 🙂). But yes, they certainly felt as if they came from the outside in a rather inorganic fashion.

Basically to me Cordy's "journey" or "transformation" is ... well it's growing up. Nothing wrong with that. But in a lot of ways it feels as if it's growing up on the fasttrack and in far too perfect of a manner... where were the flaws? The stumbling and rising again in order to learn?

They were onto something in season 1 but then at the end of it, to me, it felt a lot like hey, instead of dong this the hard way we'll just give her a few days screaming in terror in a hospital bed to 'open' her eyes to the suffering in the world and bam - we have a brand new Cordy. Complete with a strong conscience, a moral code and arms full of wisdom...

... and from there it only grew. And by grew I mean more 'grown up' traits were handed to her character without us seeing much of how she achieved these. (Her visions and their pain was a weak effort to give us this. Stoicism in the face of pain is not all it takes to achieve the wisdom and insight she suddenly possessed)

I would have loved for Cordy's story to have gotten some freedom from Angel, that we would have gotten more Cordy-centric episodes where we could have seen her mess up but also getting up and learning from her mistakes.

Instead she became some sort of hot, young female 'Giles' on the show. There for the emotional and moral support of the Angel character, there to guide him , and he needed that perhaps but I do feel that robbed Cordy of a lot of her own purpose. Instead of an individual character she became the paradigm side-kick unable to function properly without the focal point Angel served as. She didn't fill a function on the show, she was made to fill a function.

It's disappointing. For her journey could have been far more fascinating and rewarding, the character had the possibility of it.

 

[PrincessBuffy16]

My problem is that I never bought that transformation. I don't think she changed. I think she was changed, by the writers, from the outside.

The way I read it, either the character or the actress, or maybe both, developed a constituency, among the fans or among the producers, or both. Somebody wanted to see more of Charisma playing Cordelia. That meant they couldn't allow her to remain a comic-relief minor villain, as she was in the earliest episodes. They had to make her likable and more interesting. I can imagine the brain-storming ... "what can we do to make Cordelia likable? What admirable characteristics can we give her?"

In "Killed By Death," she suddenly becomes a straight-talking "what you see is what you get" type. That's likable. But it came out of nowhere. Remember in "Reptile Boy," when Cordelia was reading a book on how to attract boys that told her to laugh at everything they said? When exactly did she decide not to be a phony?

What Cordelia was in Buffy was what most of girls in HS are.. fake. Trying to be likeable, forgetting who they really are, and playing by others rules. I belive that in Angel, Cordelia showed her true face. When she grew old enough to realize she doesn't have to suck up to people anymore to be accepted.

 

[spikecakes]

Cordelia, Spike and Wesley for me. Cordelia was MAYBE the biggest bitch on the planet, but turned out to be this brilliant champion, it's incredible how much she accomplished in the short time she was alive.

For Spike, it's pretty obvious. He started off an evil vampire, kill everyone blah blah blah, and changed himself BEFORE he got a soul. That was more than Angelus could ever do. Kudos to Spike!

.. and Wesley, his is probably the biggest journey. Once clumsy, turned sexy demon fighting champ. Go Wes!

 

[Hale Caesar]

My problem is that I never bought that transformation. I don't think she changed. I think she was changed, by the writers, from the outside.

The way I read it, either the character or the actress, or maybe both, developed a constituency, among the fans or among the producers, or both. Somebody wanted to see more of Charisma playing Cordelia. That meant they couldn't allow her to remain a comic-relief minor villain, as she was in the earliest episodes. They had to make her likable and more interesting. I can imagine the brain-storming ... "what can we do to make Cordelia likable? What admirable characteristics can we give her?"

In "Killed By Death," she suddenly becomes a straight-talking "what you see is what you get" type. That's likable. But it came out of nowhere. Remember in "Reptile Boy," when Cordelia was reading a book on how to attract boys that told her to laugh at everything they said? When exactly did she decide not to be a phony?

Her development really happened in Angel. When she got the visions from TPTB, it changed her life because she realized that she was able to make a bigger contribution to the world and help Angel. She does little things across Angel, that slowly turn her into one of the strongest characters in the Buffyverse. I don't know if you've seen Angel, but none of your examples came from that show, so if you want to see the development of Cordelia, watch it

 

[Icarium]

In "Killed By Death," she suddenly becomes a straight-talking "what you see is what you get" type. That's likable. But it came out of nowhere. Remember in "Reptile Boy," when Cordelia was reading a book on how to attract boys that told her to laugh at everything they said? When exactly did she decide not to be a phony?

Cordelia says she is just being blunt. But the show doesn't really portray her that way and the other characters don't really believe that as they know she has a mean streak and can be phony, so I don't see the problem. For me, the problem is playing fast and loose with Cordelia's bitchiness and intelligence - one episode she is a total idiot (say "Inca Mummy Girl"), in another she just pretends to be vapid. In one episode she is mean just to gain popularity with Harmony and the rest, in another she is mean because she enjoys insulting people. The writers just used her as comic relief sometimes without thinking how it reflected to what they wanted to achieve with her character.

 

[Tome]

For me it goes like this... Wesley -> Cordy -> Spike -> Buffy and then the rest. I'm not saying the others didn't have good character development, but these four had the most, imo.

I won't repeat what everyone said about all of them, 'cause I agree with most of it. 🙂 But, personally Wesley's character development was one of the most interesting I've seen in a show/movie or read in a book. It's not that he goes from one side to the other(like Spike). When he first appear in Angel he's still somewhat the goof he used to be on BtVS, and it's through difficult situations that he grows. Like Taake said, through it all he keeps that inner belief that what he's doing is right. He had to endure a great deal of pain, both physically and psychologically. He lost friends, lovers and at the end of the show he has changed so dramatically from BtVS s3, that I'm sure that if a new viewer only looked at one episode of BtVS s3 and then at AtS s5, they would be like 'Is that really Wesley??'.

What I also loved about it all is that at the start he had NOBODY's respect. And through AtS he gains it from everyone, including Angel. 😎

 

[Goby]

3. Cordy- The fact that boardies call her a "child molester" because she was with Connor when in reality she was only 3 year older means that the writers really fooled all of us. She went for 18 to 30 in only 3 years. That's quite the transition. It was so clear when Cordy and Willow were together on the same episode of Season 4 Angel.

2. Spike- From one of the best Big Bads to the man who might have the most touching lines in the entire Buffyverse (End of Days - "this was the best night of my entire life.") is shocking. And the wonderful thing is that they took 4 wonderful seasons to get there. Wow!

1. Wesley- Who is the most annoying, least funny, and most ridiculous character in the Buffyverse? My vote is for Wesley, the non-funny bumbling idiot. I though Joss really thought us fans were stupid for making Wesley so stupid. Yes... I hate S3 Wesley....

But fast forward to Season 5.... Wesley is intelligent, confident, brave, kind, and everything a hero should be. Wow!! Wesley is simply amazing. His love for Fred so is true, and so wonderful (I'm mid-season 5, so I don't know how it ends).

Wesley wins!

 

[Spikefan31]

I'm with everyone who's saying Wesley. His is such a great journey. I love him. 😀