Who had the biggest character development?

[Joshua]

Besides the main stars (Buffy/Angel), who had the biggest character developments in both series?

 

[Jodast]

Lots of characters developed greatly over the course of the shows, but my vote goes to Wesley. When we first saw him, he was a soft, incompetent, dithering idiot with a penchant for high school girls. By the end of AtS he was a strong-minded, life-learned, slightly-pyschotic badass with a thing for grad school students 🙂 I like his progression more than anyone else's because he started out as a farcical character, who I really disliked and ends up almost as a tagic figure. He makes some huge mistakes along the way, but he always does what he thinks is best and sticks to his guns and I admire that in a character, fictional or otherwise.

 

[Freddles]

Either Wesley or Willow. As Jodast mentioned, He went from a nerd we hated to a character we loved. Remember when he was a rouge demon hunter? 😀 Willow started as a rather insecure sidekick to someone who was confident and powerful in her own right. She was able to take charge when needed. Cordelia is a runner up.

 

[bottark]

To me, Willow's character development is incredible and I always love to see her grow up. Starting out with the shy school girl personality, over the series she gained enough confidence to bust out of the mold but still retain her calm demeanor and sweetness (well, in most cases, of course).

Her adorable nerdiness, whether with computers or books, is consistent and I always love seeing her go from using the bulky library computer to teaching Ms. Calendar's class and eventually to being the go-to computer genius with the MacBook Pro. There's also the witchcraft - discovering her talent in high school, being proud of it, and eventually going overboard (that's an understatement) and learning to control her power.

Willow's sexuality and the way her romantic relationships unfold is also a very interesting part of her development to me. Oz is fairly timid and goes with the flow, allowing Willow to move at her own pace in the relationship. Though Tara was even milder than Oz, being with her required Willow to step out of the norm quite a bit and helped her find herself. So when Kennedy comes along it's practically a 180 for Willow when it comes to relationship dynamic! Kennedy is quick, confident, and naive in a way that initially shocks and intrigues Willow.

 

[white avenger]

On "Angel," certainly Wes, especially if you include his Watcher days on "Buffy." On "Buffy," though I can see a big change in Willow from the beginning of Season 1 to the end of Season 7, I have ti say that my vote for greatest change goes to Spike, who went from evil, soulless monster in Season 2 to ensouled hero, champion, and arguably world savior by the end of the series, especially when it is remembered that his dynamic change didn't actually start before partway through Season 4. If he had gotten that chip back in Season 1, he might have been a Nobel Prize recipient by this time.

 

[Cheese Slices]

I'll go with Spike as well, his development was not only a huge change from where he started off, but felt also perfectly natural regarding his personality.
So yeah, Spike's journey was simply amazing and mind-blowing.

On Ats, I'd go with Wesley.

 

[Robb Stark]

I don't think anyone really comes close to Wesley. When you look at where they started at to where they finished, Wes is almost like a completely different person. The humor is gone (long gone), he's not a bumbling fool who gets in the way of Buffy, Faith and Giles. He's morphed into a total badass who's probably the smartest member of Angel's team. He goes through so much, more than anyone on either series I'd say, and he's without a doubt the single most tormented character. Everything gets stripped away from Wes.

Spike changes a lot, but not really his personality. Yes, he becomes a good guy and a champion, but his humor and the way he talks and relates to people (except Buffy) remains largely intact from beginning to end. I mean, everything about Wes changes over the course of Buffy and Angel, whereas Spike changes sides but is still pretty much the same character.

 

[RogueDemonHunter]

I'd have to go with a tie between Wesley and Spike. They each went through some MAJOR transformations throughout the show, and changed drastically.

 

[Xin Rong]

I would definitely got with faith, from good to bad to good again, plus all the extra growth that's occuring in Angel and Faith...

 

[Hale Caesar]

For me it's a coin toss between Wesley and Cordelia

 

[Jules]

I do think Cordelia should get a mention. She went from a spoiled, self centred cheerleader, to helping people selflessly (especially when she was in pain from those visions), to being part demon, then a higher being then completely evil and finally a confident, self assured woman. If you look at what happened from were she started in Welcome to the Hellmouth to Your Welcome, I'd say her development is pretty similar to Willows.

 

[Jod]

In Buffy (besides Buffy herself) my vote would go for willow as she goes through so much that her character becomes strong and evolved. I agree that some of spikes motives remain the same as he was before but i also think he developed into a better being, one that wants to help and look after dawn and eventually save everyone.
In Angel - cordelia went from being a screamish spoilt girl to a strong women who wasnt afraid to help 🙂
(excuse the going on) but i think the lovely Giles character turned into abit of an grumpy bum 🙁

 

[Joan the Vampire Slayer]

Besides the main stars (Buffy/Angel), who had the biggest character developments in both series?

Spike. Easily. Villain, ally, lover, friend and in the end, hero. Spike has come full-circle. He fought for his soul. He saved the world. He came back from the dead.

No, wait. Wesley. Wesley's journey from bumbling, arrogant Watcher to tough-as-nails damaged soul never ceases to impress and intrigue me. Alexis played his part very well and with incredible depth and sincerity.

No, wait, wait. Buffy for sure. Seeing her transformation from superficial Valley Girl to the mature, confident, brave and strong woman she is now? She is a truly incredible character. Buffy has sacrificed everything for her mission and has remained strong with the weight of the world on her shoulders.

That's a hard one.

 

[white avenger]

No, wait, wait. Buffy for sure. Seeing her transformation from superficial Valley Girl to the mature, confident, brave and strong woman she is now? She is a truly incredible character. Buffy has sacrificed everything for her mission and has remained strong with the weight of the world on her shoulders.

That's a hard one.

Don't you mean "Seeing her transformation from superficial Valley Girl" who becomes infatuated with the first tall, dark vampire with a tortured soul, brooding eyes, and a velvet sport coat "to the mature, confident, brave and strong woman she is now?"

We have to keep our perspective in these things.

 

[EVIL UU]

Buffy.

From a troubled but fairly happy and healthy girl with hopes and dreams to an out of touch with reality borderline lunatic with no control of her own life whatsoever. 7+ years of slaying pretty much destroys her.

 

[dexeded]

I do think Cordelia should get a mention. She went from a spoiled, self centred cheerleader, to helping people selflessly (especially when she was in pain from those visions), to being part demon, then a higher being then completely evil and finally a confident, self assured woman. If you look at what happened from were she started in Welcome to the Hellmouth to Your Welcome, I'd say her development is pretty similar to Willows.

Similar to Willow's? ...I don't really see it. Willow went from mousy to confident to arrogant to dark to... well, more S4-type Willow but with more power and control. Cordy doesn't count as turning evil because she was possessed by Jasmine. A completely different being took over her body; that's not character development. Everything else besides the 'completely evil' stage is right, though.

 

[Robb Stark]

Similar to Willow's? ...I don't really see it. Willow went from mousy to confident to arrogant to dark to... well, more S4-type Willow but with more power and control. Cordy doesn't count as turning evil because she was possessed by Jasmine. A completely different being took over her body; that's not character development. Everything else besides the 'completely evil' stage is right, though.

I don't know, if you take Cordelia from "Welcome to the Hellmouth" or "The Harvest" and then watch her in Angel S4 or her farewell episode the next season, she's a totally different character. Sure, she still makes a few of the same jokes, but that's true of most of the characters, even Willow. Heck, they even do that teenage rewind episode in S4 of Angel where Cordy reverts back. I'm not saying she has the biggest development, but it's pretty huge.

 

[dexeded]

I don't know, if you take Cordelia from "Welcome to the Hellmouth" or "The Harvest" and then watch her in Angel S4 or her farewell episode the next season, she's a totally different character. Sure, she still makes a few of the same jokes, but that's true of most of the characters, even Willow. Heck, they even do that teenage rewind episode in S4 of Angel where Cordy reverts back. I'm not saying she has the biggest development, but it's pretty huge.

No, I agree that she had pretty big development. The part I didn't get was how it was 'similar to Willow's' besides the magnitude of it.