Question Who do you find the most relatable character on Buffy?

Who do you consider the most relatable character?

  • Angel

    Votes: 2 5.6%

  • Anya

    Votes: 6 16.7%

  • Buffy

    Votes: 5 13.9%

  • Cordelia

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Dawn

    Votes: 2 5.6%

  • Giles

    Votes: 1 2.8%

  • Oz

    Votes: 1 2.8%

  • Riley

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Spike

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Tara

    Votes: 1 2.8%

  • Willow

    Votes: 3 8.3%

  • Xander

    Votes: 6 16.7%

  • Other

    Votes: 9 25.0%
  • Total voters
    36
On Buffy, it has to be between Buffy and Willow. They reminded me of myself in multiple ways. Although, I feel like picking Buffy is a little unfair as we see so much more of her personal life and the story is centered around her. She is the protagonist after all.

In the entire Buffyverse, though, it is easily Lorne. He's the most relatable for me, with Wesley being a close second.
 
This will probably come as no surprise to some of you but with me it is definitely Giles!

Not just because of the old & British thing, but like me he spent a lot of his life doing something that was his whole life, leaving little time for much else, but then that was gone & he was left wondering where his life had gone & what was he to do now?
He was important, had responsibilities....and then suddenly, he wasn't needed any more.
It takes some adjusting to.

Then of course I love the smell of books 😉

But rumours that I dress in tweed, drink Tea, & am fond of Cross-referencing are somewhat wide of the mark.
 
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Xander was supposed to be the most relatable character, I guess that was pretty much the point of the character in the first place, but I often found him too harsh to identify with him. Like when he implied he didn't care about what Jenny would have wanted to do about Angel after he lost his soul because she was dead, he was out of line here.

I like the fact the writers regularly created internal conflicts in the gang when they had to decide on a course of action, instead of always going in the same direction. But there was more than one instance where Xander went too far or made big statements that barely made sense to the point where it was slighly cartoony. That's why I can't relate to him. Whereas if you take a character like Giles, all the times he lost his temper or opposed someone were handled more cleverly and always understandable (admitedly, less so in season 7).
 
Skanky Vamp said:
He was out of line most of the time. "Can I have you?" Really?
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Agreed . And lets not forgot how he made Amy cast a love spell just so he could get back at Cordy . And that was after saying she was all shorts of things for years before that .
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Last Watcher said:
This will probably come as no surprise to some of you but with me it is definitely Giles!

Not just because of the old & British thing, but like me he spent a lot of his life doing something that was his whole life, leaving little time for much else, but then that was gone & he was left wondering where his life had gone & what was he to do now?
He was important, had responsibilities....and then suddenly, he wasn't needed any more.
It takes some adjusting to.

Then of course I love the smell of books 😉

But rumours that I dress in tweed, drink Tea, & am fond of Cross-referencing are somewhat wide of the mark.
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Agreed . Your not fond of Cross-referencing 😋
 
Anya, I think I'm a lot like her. She says things before she really thinks some time and is very direct and matter of factly. She also shows her vulnerability, not always but sometimes.
 
Did you think I voted Anya?

If you did... you were right.

I don't normally find characters relatable. I may like them; I just do not relate to them.

Anya, however, I not only find the most relatable character on Buffy, I find the most relatable character I have ever encountered. She, well, just makes sense to me.

The fact that my most relatable character ever is a millennia-old ex-demon who, according to quite a few articles, is likely somewhere on the spectrum... well it might explain a few things.
 
November
November
Anya is the next most relatable to me. Except I still love bunnies.
NotASlayer said:
Did you think I voted Anya?

If you did... you were right.

I don't normally find characters relatable. I may like them; I just do not relate to them.

Anya, however, I not only find the most relatable character on Buffy, I find the most relatable character I have ever encountered. She, well, just makes sense to me.

The fact that my most relatable character ever is a millennia-old ex-demon who, according to quite a few articles, is likely somewhere on the spectrum... well it might explain a few things.
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I don't think she's on the spectrum though, her social awkwardness and struggle to understand human emotions simply come from the fact she's an ex-demon. But I find it weird how they totally changed her character in season 4 because she seemed completely different to me in season 3.
 
NotASlayer
NotASlayer
Oh, she is different in season 3. You can see her personality changing within season 3 itself. Anya ends up being a completely different person to Anyanka; her personality continues evolving through S4.
One thing i liked about Anya was she was very blunt . April was her mirror image of her if you ask me .
 
Well, I suppose I'll explain why I chose Anya, so, here goes.

Apart from the former demon part, I sometimes am a bit too blunt with the way I say things, my mouth tends to open before my brain finishes thinking, which tends to get me into a bit of bother. I'm sort of socially awkward, I guess it's probably the difficulty in picking up on social cues that might do it.

I feel like, even if she isn't... there might be some autism coding in how they wrote Anya, in her earlier appearances at least. As I am autistic myself, I feel like she really is the character that connects with me.

I also relate to Willow a little, minus the whole going off the rails thing and getting addicted to magic. I find myself learning and studying new things all the while because I get really curious, but I also feel like I don't quite fit into a specific group of people. I suppose as I got older, caring about that was pointless anyways. I also came out, so there's that.
 
I chose Xander as I can relate to him on a personal level. I was very much like him while growing up. Always trying to prove myself in spite of always being treated like an outsider, like I was never equal to the rest of the people I hung around with. And it seemed like the harder I tried the more things went wrong.
 
I picked other but of those listed I'd say Riley, Oz and Giles because they seem more grounded, less neurotic...or at least not as vocal about their neuroticism. I can relate to that.
I'd also pick Faith due to her self-worth and esteem issues.

I'm often surprised when people state that Buffy is 'unrelatable' since the majority of the show is basically from her perspective; with other characters we get snippets but early on its all mostly from her pov.
But maybe that falls into the 'understandable' category. Understanding is partly intellectual whereas 'relating' is more emotive and instinctual, linked to a specific character trait or foible.
 
Funny... didn't post a reply when I first voted... and I have just changed my vote... though I will tell you, I think I relate to aspects of several of the characters... including identifying with characteristics that make me cringe and make my skin crawl...

That brings me to Willow. I think she's bright, talented, and utterly insecure. She reminds me of a lot of neglected kids I've met... She's trying to prove herself to herself and to others and desperately wants to be liked, loved, noticed and admired... To the point where she becomes utterly amoral in the pursuit of maximum power and control. If you want to know the depth of my not liking Willow, check out other posts. I do GET her... because I've been all the things she is... but I don't have much use for the ways she went after respect and love. For one thing they don't work, and for another they hurt others. But i get insecure, bright and utterly alone. I think I dislike her because she's so much like me as to be a clone... until she starts hurting others.

Buffy... because I think she's in a hard place without a paddle... so much of her life is a portrait in trying to survive without any tools to fight the battles she's expected to fight. I don't relate to her fully because I'm not a hero. I don't save the world... but I hope I'd want to try half as hard as she does if I were in her fight. I aspire to her... and I relate to her realness... I think why we're still writing about Buffy the Vampire Slayer is because Buffy is so real (and so are her supporting cast of misfits) I can't help loving her... and them.

Xander. I relate to him b/c he screws up so badly. He loves hard. He's loyal to those he loves, but he has no idea how to function in the world. I think he has a good heart and he keeps trying and trying and I relate to that... and I relate to the fact that he falls flat on his face quite a lot. I find him heroic b/c he sticks around when most people would flee. The Xander who goes down into the Master's chamber dragging the unwilling Angel... Is my total hero. Without HIS action Buffy dies and stays dead... not just CPR, but actually facing down Angel and dragging him into the fight... He shows a huge courage. He has a lot of trouble in school... at least so it seems... I am not sure if it's a learning disability, or just parental neglect. I think a better home life might have given him a better start. he seems to come into his own once he becomes an adult and learns a trade.

Anya. I'm probably more like Anya than any other character... other than not really caring much about money. Too honest for her own good. Can't really relate to other people. Don't know when to keep my mouth shut about my opinion. I often feel like an alien in the world. I love a lot. I want to be loved and want to fit in... but I don't want to fit in at the expense of being who i am... even if it means no one likes or agrees with me. I related to being awkward as heck.

Giles. I relate to the parental side... I want to protect and educate and guide folks... I often feel inadequate to the task.

Cordelia: I think I relate to her outspokenness and honesty. I don't relate to her arrogance. I've never had that much confidence. i have been outspoken, but never had the kind of easy confidence that comes from the pampered life.

Spike: The emotion. The need for connection. The passion. The impulsivity.

Bottom line: I voted for Buffy, but I think i may change to Anya... because I'm definitely Anya light. smiles.
 
I find almost every Buffy character relatable which is one reason I like the show so much. But most relatable probably Tara, especially early on. She's shy, finds it hard to talk to people, struggles in group situations e.g. the Wicca Group. But really there's something I have in common with pretty much all of them, I'm academically curious like Willow, protective of people I care about like Buffy, am blunt and socially awkward like Anya, can sometimes be the loner brooding type like Angel, know about a lot of different things (and drink lots of tea) like Giles, have a little of Faith's contempt for authority.
 
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