Who had the best character development? Buffy or Cordelia?

[Tome]

Alright, so this isn't about who's your favorite between the two, but which one had the best character development. Obviously for Cordy, include both her BtVS and AtS runs.

 

[nightshade]

For me Cordelia, she matured more because she wanted to not because she had to like Buffy did. Buffy's development to me was more because of what happened around her, her mother dying being the big thing where as Cordelia was about her, she could of got rid of the visions but she chose not to.

 

[wickedtiger86]

I chose Buffy. We went to basically as dark as she could get and back up to a well balanced individual just over two years. Between season 6 and season 7.

Buffy is fascinating to me.

 

[Taake]

I chose Buffy because I think she's really starting to grasp what being a Slayer is and how to make it work alongside who Buffy is at the end of s7, she made a remarkable journey, and because though I like Cordy's story there are too many parts of it that I simply don't buy and can't count as development.

 

[sisterofmercy]

Buffy. Cordelia's development was more drastic but that doesn't necessarily mean it was better than Buffy's development. Buffy grew constantly into someone who embraced the darkness as well as the light and grew into her own person. Cordelia didn't suffer quite as many setbacks so to me it didn't seem as well developed.

I think largely that's to do with Buffy being the main character and Cordelia being in a 'supporting' role on both shows though. Obviously there was more screentime given to Buffy as she was the lead.

 

[Tome]

I think largely that's to do with Buffy being the main character and Cordelia being in a 'supporting' role on both shows though. Obviously there was more screentime given to Buffy as she was the lead.

Yea... Maybe I should have put Angel instead of Cordy... But I took her since imo, she was one of the most changed characters(with Wes) at the end of her run.

Personally, this was a really tough choice as I think Cordelia had great character development on AtS, yet Buffy had a lot on her own show too. But as much as I love Cordy, I think that in the long run, Buffy had better development, and actually had matured quite a lot at the end of the show. So I picked Buffy, by an inch. 😉

 

[brinkster130]

Buffy. I don't think that her development was any better than Cordy's, but we got to see more of it. We experienced Buffy's high and lows and watched all of her struggles as she dealt with them. Whereas with Cordy we only saw parts of the the development.

Like [MENTION=10446]sisterofmercy[/MENTION] said, I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that Buffy was a main character and we followed her story more closely than Cordy's.

 

[caritas08]

I love Cordelia's development and feel that her development was more interesting but I chose Buffy because I feel Buffy was handled more consistently and there were moments in Season Three concerning Cordy and Amnesia Cordy where she was written too differently from her original Cordelia to seem like the same character.

Season Two Cordelia is my favorite and the most believable transition to me.

 

[Hale Caesar]

Cordelia for me. Both had great development, but if you were to watch Cordelia in "Welcome to the Hellmouth" and then "You're Welcome" you would swear they are 2 different people. Buffy had great development, but I wasn't as much as Cordy, IMO

 

[Whirlwind]

This was tough. I eventually went with Cordelia, as I feel her story from being a stuck up valley girl to being one of the most compassionate and caring women in the Buffyverse was so well done. Angel Season 4 doesn't really count against her to me, as she was possessed. I loved the way she ended things in You're Welcome. It was a fantastic sendoff to a wonderful character.

 

[Marisa]

Cordelia hands down for me. I think Cordy actually matured more imo. She started off a teenage girl and then matured into a wonderful young woman. With Cordy it was never about who is she with and all the other questions. It was at times but overall she stood on her own for a long time. I also think her interaction with her friends and others shows a lot as well. She can be very nurturing and seeing her in early Buffy seasons she came a long way 😛

I can't say Buffy did the same. Yes I think she progressed and yes I think she matured but I just don't think she did it as well or as much. After many re-watches I think having her for seven seasons she should have progressed a bit more and had more character development.

 

[The Scourge]

Cordelia. She willingly put aside her own life, her dreams for the future, and willingly took the pain of having visions all in order to do good and help people. She didn't have to do that. She could have moved on and had a normal life, but she showed how much she matured by deciding that other peoples lives were more important.

For Buffy, they just threw some angst at her to make her miserable and called it development. Like someone else said, she was simply reacting to the events around her, whereas Cordelia had choice in her development.

 

[Kean]

To be honest I don't think we can really compare the two as Cordy and her development were given a closing chapter. A final word was put on it and I think that makes Cordy feel more developed. But Buffy is still very much in still a work in progress, and while I feel she regressed quite a bit in the latter seasons, I feel there is miles to go for her.