Why people hate Xander?

I saw the vid and glad it wasn't as vitriolic as most who complain about Xander's character. I didn't agree with him but I didn't think he was being absurd (like making things up and making mountains out of molehills) about it. I'm just going to say I don't see eye to eye with him on that.

Also, the first time I watched Buffy I liked Willow more than Xander. However, on 2nd viewing (and remaining for subsequent rewatches) I found myself liking Xander a bit more and Willow a bit less (still love both) so they're neck to neck, I can't declare one a favorite over the other.

That said I've criticized Xander before, but I've criticized all the characters at one time or another. That doesn't mean I hate them. I actually like that they're flawed. And I do see Xander as overcoming his flaws as the show goes in despite his (and everyone's) regressions in season 6.
 
thrasherpix said:
I saw the vid and glad it wasn't as vitriolic as most who complain about Xander's character. I didn't agree with him but I didn't think he was being absurd (like making things up and making mountains out of molehills) about it.
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This seems to be most common with those who prefer Buffy's canon relationships, especially Spike, whose behaviour is magnitudes worse than Xander's. Seriously, mean words are considered worse than rape?

thrasherpix said:
Also, the first time I watched Buffy I liked Willow more than Xander. However, on 2nd viewing (and remaining for subsequent rewatches) I found myself liking Xander a bit more
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On the first watch, Xander was also my unfavourite out of the core four; I liked Buffy, Giles and Willow more, though which depended on the episode. But rewatching the first five seasons made me appreciate Xander more and just how underrated he is in his helping to save the world. Staring with season one where, without him, the Master would have won.

thrasherpix said:
That said I've criticized Xander before, but I've criticized all the characters at one time or another. That doesn't mean I hate them. I actually like that they're flawed.
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Yes, like all the others, he's flawed.
 
T
thrasherpix
He also saved Buffy twice in season 1, minimum. And also Willow and Giles at least once in that season. He kept doing it but many say he's useless.
Here we go more crap spouted by that d---head Ryan B,
when is he going to learn that there are not many Buffy TVS fans who actually hate Xander,
the most that could be said is that we dislike the character.
 
Agreed. They could have made Xander better, like Gunn or Wesley, two supporting characters who were interesting in their own right, but never outshined Angel. I think they were still bound to Buffy being a gag character long after the series became something else, and keeping Xander a gag character was the only way to keep him from making Buffy look like the comic relief character from Disney's Gargoyles.
 
N
NoShip
Oooohhh...... I never thought of that.
art imitating life is an eerie thing since NB talked about what he endured with a teacher i think it was. xander's family on the show truly sucked. I liked the character of Xander, there was depth to him, he always sacrificed, and he was the one caleb went after to maim him. i'm still annoyed about his lack of emotion over Anya's loss, it was like he was discussing how he lost his left sneaker. their relationship was doomed just like all the rest on buffy.
 
Hate is a strong word, but I would say at least out of main cast Xander is by far my least favorite character. Why? Basically because he's annoying. A lot of people (Charisma Carpenter for one) criticize Xander's character for inappropriate comments and such but that can be explained by age, its mostly in the earlier seasons, and to be perfectly honest many characters make inappropriate comments, including Faith, Cordelia, Anya. As Angel once remarks "the guy just bugs me".
 
twoslayers said:
Hate is a strong word, but I would say at least out of main cast Xander is by far my least favorite character. Why? Basically because he's annoying. A lot of people (Charisma Carpenter for one) criticize Xander's character for inappropriate comments and such but that can be explained by age, its mostly in the earlier seasons, and to be perfectly honest many characters make inappropriate comments, including Faith, Cordelia, Anya. As Angel once remarks "the guy just bugs me".
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Understandable!

I also found Anya and other characters like Willow annoying at times.

Though Anya is funny so that makes up for it
 
twoslayers said:
Hate is a strong word, but I would say at least out of main cast Xander is by far my least favorite character. Why? Basically because he's annoying. A lot of people (Charisma Carpenter for one) criticize Xander's character for inappropriate comments and such but that can be explained by age, its mostly in the earlier seasons, and to be perfectly honest many characters make inappropriate comments, including Faith, Cordelia, Anya. As Angel once remarks "the guy just bugs me".
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That was the show being meta. Just before Season 3 started they were on a WB promotional tour and David Boreanaz and Nick Brendon got into a fight that had to be broken up by Joshua Jackson. That was the writers play on that.

David was living for his spin-off so both sides were, lets just grin and bear it for the year. You'll notice they didn't do many scenes together that year.
 
Buffy is a show about female empowerment and Xander is the token male sidekick. If you look at other shows like Xena or Relic Hunter, there is always at least one of the male cast who is deliberately made to look bad so the women look better. Xander (or any other male) is not born knowing what he needs to know. As one movie star said to a screenwriter, "I don't want to be the man who learns, I want to be the man who knows" and the reason is, no one wants to see how this happens. Adolescence is when some of this happens. The rest may never happen.

Xander is a normal boy growing up in an abusive home in the complete absence of a healthy role model. The fact that he became a respected contractor may have taken place in "The Replacement" but it stuck and he did not repeat the toxic patterns of his family.
 
thetopher said:
Xander is not 'hot' and has no superpowers so he is now 'problematic' to the fanbase.
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I think what turns so many fans against Xander is that the kinds of things he says and does are the kinds of things that women have to deal with every day. So Xander's evil is familiar and PERSONAL.

Spike and Angel are Vampires. No one has any experience with vamps. So, the evil they do is remote and INPERSONAL.
So fans have a visceral reaction to the evils they experience on a regular basis and little reaction to the evils they have no chance of experiencing, ever.

I wonder how Xander's arc would have gone if the original plan was followed? Xander was the original Designated Love Interest for Buffy. Then Boreanaz was hired to play Angel.....
 
NoShip said:
I think what turns so many fans against Xander is that the kinds of things he says and does are the kinds of things that women have to deal with every day. So Xander's evil is familiar and PERSONAL.

Spike and Angel are Vampires. No one has any experience with vamps. So, the evil they do is remote and INPERSONAL.
So fans have a visceral reaction to the evils they experience on a regular basis and little reaction to the evils they have no chance of experiencing, ever.

I wonder how Xander's arc would have gone if the original plan was followed? Xander was the original Designated Love Interest for Buffy. Then Boreanaz was hired to play Angel.....
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Joss said he never got Angel because he was the guy who used to beat him up in High School.
 
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