I can't seem to make up my mind, to be honest. I was really sure about it before... It depends - ultimately, I think her experiences in Sunnydale have helped her become a more complete, and in the end content, person than she would have been otherwise. But on the other hand - well, there's a whole lot of murder (not necessarily limited to what we've seen on screen) to account for, and I do think that Faith probably wouldn't have turned to the stabbing side of the force had she never met Buffy.
Faith was right, they aren't supposed to exist together - they're too similar to remain at a safe distance, and too different to be safe around each other. If Faith's life had one singular purpose, one identity that was hers alone from the start, she likely would have never fallen. But she would have been Kendra - a Slayer, not a person. If Buffy is driven by love, Faith is driven by rage, but either way, they're both big on emotion. If Faith had suppressed that passion, she would have remained, technically, a white hat, and nobody would have been able to tell the difference. She just wouldn't have been the Faith we know today and it's just occurred to me I'm about to start paraphrasing Angel's Passion monologue.
I guess it just depends on whether you consider Faith's self realisation and rebirth as a blue team berserker more valuable than the lives she took. Are we better people based on our actions or our thoughts?
"Sociopath" is a term used mostly in connection with Wesley, but let's borrow it for a moment for our Alterna-Faith. Alterna-Faith is the only Slayer in her world. Without having Buffy to run to in F, H&T, we'll assume that she's found some other way to survive Kakistos. Further to that, we'll have to assume that she did it single handedly. Alterna-Faith is the one girl, alone against - you know that part I'm sure- but the point is, over time, she'll develop a big-honking superiority complex not unlike a certain blonde did as she got older. Faith shows symptoms of such a complex in Consequences, but it's important to remember that her persuasive argument to the effect that Slayers are morally exempt was for her own benefit moreso than Buffy's.
Sociopaths are "very egocentric individuals that lack a sense of personal responsibility and morality. They may be impulsive, manipulative, reckless, quarrelsome, and consistent liars. Sociopaths are usually unable to sustain relationships and have a total lack of remorse for their actions. The sociopath may also be very prone to aggressive, hostile, and sometimes violent behavior. This aggression may or may not lead to criminal behavior and often takes the form of domestic violence. Along with these other actions, sociopaths often engage in self-destructive behavior such as alcoholism or addiction to drugs.
It is believed that a constant state of boredom and the lack of ability to truly feel deep emotion are what lead to this random misbehavior or thrill seeking. This form of psychopaths "can basically be thought of as emotional shells;the surface is all there, but there is no substance".
(
http://members.tripod.com/lheanna/sociopat.htm)
Somebody who feels no moral responsibility to their fellow human being. The more famous sociopaths are people like Hitler, Stalin etc, but not all sociopaths are so obvious, and most will never be recognised. As many as 5% of the population can be classified as sociopathic, and many of those will never hurt anybody (statistically, you know at least one person incapable of empathy). Not from any sense of morality as we understand it, simply because the cons of acting out by far outweigh the pros. These people are High Functioning Sociopaths - indistinguishable from "normal" people because the average sociopath is smarter than the average non-sociopath, and they're good at fitting in. Now, in our world, a truly dangerous sociopath is generally created by a combination of their environment, upbringing and possibly a genetic disposition. In TV land, characters' we'd recognise as sociopaths usually tend to be moulded that way by extreme circumstances. Faith is saved from becoming a true sociopath, ironically, by her bond with the Mayor, who offers her love and an admirable (but evil) authority figure. He reaches out to her on a level that most others seem incapable of doing, and thus offers her a link to other people. Sure, he may want to wipe them out, but he's still (mostly) one of them. Faith learns that it's possible to trust somebody, and more importantly, to like somebody, which, despite all the horrible things she does at his request, is of enormous value to her later on.
Now, Alterna-Faith, we assume, recieves a new watcher eventually. Barring a miracle, Alterna-Faith is going to have an even lower opinion of authority than our Faith does, but since her only identity is as Slayer, the council come with the package. She'll do the Slayer thing, but only because she feels comfortable doing so, and her non-slayer life has never been presented as awfully enticing. Besides, slaying fulfills her thrill seeking impulse. So the pros of being a good guy outweigh the cons. Without the Mayor to protect her or Buffy to sub for her, Alterna-Faith must understand that the council would have no problem arranging for a new Slayer to take her place if she steps out of line. She'll probably never be a particularly noteworthy Slayer because she's going to be somewhat preoccupied with the fact that she can't empathise with people in the least, and can't get outed, but she'll go through the motions convincingly.
So is Alterna-Faith, who behaves herself all the time, but purely from self interest, a better person than Our-Faith, who has murdered, but is capable of remorse and guilt?
Because I just don't know...
