Who is the real Giles?

G

Grey Ghost

From the land of Giles
Joined
Aug 8, 2009
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Orkney, Scotland
Over past few nights I 've been watching the Buffy DVD's and trying to work who is the real Giles? To the Scoobies he a strange English guy who is Buffy's Watcher and acts as if butter wouldn't melt in mouth? So who or what is Giles?

He's the son of a watcher.
Decided to rebel before going into the family career.
Got mixed up with Ethan and did some heavy dark magic.
He's called Ripper (does anyone know why?)
And he has a real nasty streak that the rest of the gang are virtually unaware of.
Mixed up with a load witches in Devon, practicall a covern member, they filled him with power, though he is magically powerful on his own (unless it's against Willow on a bad hair day!!!).

Another mystery is that Buffy sticks by him no matter what, after all:

He drugged her to make her weak
Tried or helped in trying to get two of her boyfriends killed.
Ethan who is real bad ass is scared of him.
And he put an end to Glory via her brother.
He's a bit of a Jekyl & Hyde.

Oh yes, got a criminal streak, stole some goodies for Joyce and hot wired a car.

So who or what is Giles?

Have I missed out any part of his profile?
 
I don't think you can say he had a 'real nasty streak?' He's never been 'real nasty'!!

Most of the things you listed as to why Buffy shouldn't have supported him, have fully justified reasons as to why they occurred and I don't think they outweigh the reasons why she should!

Ripper? I don't know. I kinda just guessed it was a play on 'Rupert' and when he stole stuff, he was Ripper, not Giles! 😛
 
Joan the Vampire Slayer
Joan the Vampire Slayer
The nasty part is probobly referring to him calling Willow a "rant, arrogant amataur" (even though she deserved it!)
My own personal take on Giles has always been that he would be an excellent person to have as a friend, and a very dangerous one to have as an enemy. Whether he would even be considered a "good" man might be open to question, but if he is, he has most likely not always been so. He has some sort of past with Ethan Raynes, and Raynes quite obviously fears him, even though he seems to go he constantly calls him "Old Mate," and "Chum." The nickname "Ripper" might be simply be a familiarization of the name "Rupert," but it might just as easily have a more sinister meaning as well. The uninhibited Giles from "Band Candy," if truly a return to his youthful self, would have been a great match for Faith, with his "want, take, have" attitude and disrespect for authority, and the Giles who slammed Snyder up against the wall at the beginning of Season 3 was hardly the somewhat geeky librarian who shoved the "Vampyre" book on the counter in front of Buffy.

Rupert Giles is a dangerous man, and quite likely a somewhat unpleasant one, who managed for the most part to keep his personality under control because, in the beginning, because that was how a Watcher was supposed to act ("act," as opposed to "be," since we later would learn that the Watchers actually weren't all that nice a group of people), and later, because of his genuine affection for Buffy.
 
Mumrik
Mumrik
Very much agreed.
Great points, White Avenger. I like what you have to say and I agree - but I think the rest of your post got cut off.

---------- Post added at 12:00 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:57 AM ----------

Grey Ghost said:
Over past few nights I 've been watching the Buffy DVD's and trying to work who is the real Giles? To the Scoobies he a strange English guy who is Buffy's Watcher and acts as if butter wouldn't melt in mouth? So who or what is Giles?

He's the son of a watcher.
Decided to rebel before going into the family career.
Got mixed up with Ethan and did some heavy dark magic.
He's called Ripper (does anyone know why?)
And he has a real nasty streak that the rest of the gang are virtually unaware of.
Mixed up with a load witches in Devon, practicall a covern member, they filled him with power, though he is magically powerful on his own (unless it's against Willow on a bad hair day!!!).

Another mystery is that Buffy sticks by him no matter what, after all:

He drugged her to make her weak
Tried or helped in trying to get two of her boyfriends killed.
Ethan who is real bad ass is scared of him.
And he put an end to Glory via her brother.
He's a bit of a Jekyl & Hyde.

Oh yes, got a criminal streak, stole some goodies for Joyce and hot wired a car.

So who or what is Giles?

Have I missed out any part of his profile?
Click to expand...

Interesting points you bring up here, Grey Ghost. Who do you think is the real Giles?

You're quick to point out what 'bad' or questionable things Giles has done in the past, yet you fail to mention the good things he's done. All the characters have done 'nasty' and morally questionable things throughout the course of the series.

Also, you have to understand that he is in basically all respects Buffy's father. He was there for her when her real father wasn't. Of course she's going to stick by him! Except for the short time they were estranged after he conspired to kill Spike with Wood, she has proved that she loves and trusts him with her life.
 
G
Grey Ghost
Eats humble pie!
Cool some good answers and I think I may have trod on some toes (not intentional may I had), personally I think he's great. He's the sort of person I would rather have a friend any day than an enemy. I guess I wanted to see how people thought about the darker side of the man, we all have that dark side. At the end of the day he had have that 'darker' side in order to do his job and protect Buffy and of course the rest of the gang which is outside the normal Watchers duty. Normal slayers normal stuck to the rules except for Buffy (and Faith).

Joan, I think that he is a good gentle man who had learnt the hard way in life, knows how to take care of himself and his friends. And I admit I would more than likely do the same as he did to protect Buffy.
 
Grey Ghost said:
Cool some good answers and I think I may have trod on some toes (not intentional may I had), personally I think he's great. He's the sort of person I would rather have a friend any day than an enemy. I guess I wanted to see how people thought about the darker side of the man, we all have that dark side. At the end of the day he had have that 'darker' side in order to do his job and protect Buffy and of course the rest of the gang which is outside the normal Watchers duty. Normal slayers normal stuck to the rules except for Buffy (and Faith).

Joan, I think that he is a good gentle man who had learnt the hard way in life, knows how to take care of himself and his friends. And I admit I would more than likely do the same as he did to protect Buffy.
Click to expand...

Hey man, I think I can speak for all here when I say you haven't offended us at all! I admit, I have offended people here before - but mostly when participating in the never-ending shipper wars. We love discussing things around here, and we love arguing and disagreeing.
 
Joan the Vampire Slayer said:
Hey man, I think I can speak for all here when I say you haven't offended us at all! I admit, I have offended people here before - but mostly when participating in the never-ending shipper wars. We love discussing things around here, and we love arguing and disagreeing.
Click to expand...

Yup, Joan's right. And we do it well, don't we Joan, with our to-ing and fro-ing with Bangel and Spuffy? 😉

You haven't offended anyone Grey Ghost! I feel bad if my post made you think that. Giles is my fave character after all so I jump to defend him nearly as quickly as I do Bangel! 😛
 
Joan the Vampire Slayer said:
Hey man, I think I can speak for all here when I say you haven't offended us at all! I admit, I have offended people here before - but mostly when participating in the never-ending shipper wars. We love discussing things around here, and we love arguing and disagreeing.
Click to expand...

That's okay, I disagree and retract all I say:cheering::cheering::cheering: ONLY KIDDING!!! I have a weired sense of humour.
 
Joan the Vampire Slayer said:
Except for the short time they were estranged after he conspired to kill Spike with Wood, she has proved that she loves and trusts him with her life.
Click to expand...

************* SPOILERS FOR SEASON 8*****************


I'm not so sure that Buffy's period of mistrust of Giles was quite the "short time" that you might imply. Given the time period between Season 7 and Season 8 and what seemed, to me, at least at the time of Issue 6, Giles' gave me the impression that he, like Faith, was still pretty much outside of Buffy's inner circle of trusted friends. SAt least that's the impression that I got.
 
Giles is just Giles to me. He falls in the same category as Wesley. He is just willing to do what needs to be done with or without everyone else.
 
I feel that Giles is a man who is conflicted by his duties to his friends and his duties to mankind (as a former Watcher). He does what he thinks is right, even if it hurts the people he cares about. We don't see much of him outside of his relationships with the Scoobies, and when we do, it's often through the eyes of the Scoobies (as with his relationship to his second girlfriend). However, I liked the glimpses into his soul that we got when he was romancing Jenny Calendar (
and especially after her death
.
 
That is true. Giles was a very conflicted character. At times it seemed that he didn't know what to do.
 
Rupert Giles was a badass in his day.
The reason he felt so strongly about willow's magick's was he'd been there,done that,got the bloody Tshirt.
Him,Ethan rayne,and a few others used to experiment with magick,with dire results.
The ripper nickname comes,as far as i can tell,from his days as a demon hunter(Rogue demon hunter that is),though its never been explained to my knoweledge.
He's a warm,gentle,complicated man,with strong beliefs.
He has a flat in bath.
Likes the lake district.
I think the reason he doesn't fight like he does in Band Candy is confidence,he lacks confidence.
The chocolate bars in that episode gave him that,he remembered who he was,who he used to be,a tough guy.
And that person is allways there,waiting to get out,but rarely does,except to beat up Ethan Rayne that is.
To Quote:
Ethan Rayne:"But they dont know you do they,not the real you.Ripper"
"The dark age" puts it into better perspective.
So does"A new man"
"Twenty years i've bieen fighting demons,then she shows up with her nancy ninja boys,and all of a sudden they're pissing themself with fear"
Giles.Old school,trustworthy,with a dark past.
Sounds good to me.
 
Isn't Giles, like anyone, a cumulation of what they were and what they are now? He evolved and grew up, learnt from his past mistakes etc. Instead of wiping clean his "Ripper" past, he's come to terms with it and now it's a part of him that's controlled, but necessary.
 
Bluebird
Bluebird
[No message]
Well I think Giles is an intersting person and he has a mystical past. Once he was evil but then he returned to the right side!
But I often wondered how he could be evil and use dark magic with a watcher-father!

Furthermore I think that in his past he had ripped someone up so that'S why theyy call him Ripper.
 
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