I am obsessed with Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Now, I finished it, and I don't watch it 24/7 anymore, but I will always, to an extent, be obsessed with Buffy the Vampire Slayer. That's just a fact.
But back when I was in the "I literally can not think of anything else for more than ten seconds" phase of obsession, I created these desktop backgrounds that celebrated each major character. You see, what interests me about Buffy is that it discusses a lot of different kinds of heroism. Obviously you have Buffy, who is your general all-around kick-ass superhero, but you also had characters like Xander. And Anya. And, Lord help me, even Spike qualifies as a hero by the end of it all. So I took the opportunity to explore the definition of the word "hero"... by creating desktop backgrounds for myself. So, doubly productive! Uselessly productive, but productive!
So let's take a look.
Don't judge, okay, I worked for hours on these things.
(Keep in mind: I did only exclusive-to-Buffy characters. So, Angel and Cordelia aren't part of the batch because I haven't gotten around to Angel characters yet - though believe me, it will happen. And I will have a lot to say on the subject of Wesley freaking Wyndam-Pryce.)
This was the first one I made because it was the easiest. Buffy is the most conventional form of hero (or, as the case provides, heroine).
So what do we see here? Obviously, we've got the quote from Bring on the Night that always inspires me, not going to lie. Actually, this quote was said when she was bloody and bruised and utterly defeated - third screenshot from the left on the bottom - which only served to make it more powerful. Buffy's heroism isn't only in that she fights. It's in that she fights endlessly, and never, ever gives up no matter how hopeless it gets.
The main screenshot, which serves as the backdrop for the thing, is the moment where Buffy sacrifices herself so that her sister may live. It is absolutely no coincidence that her arms are spread as if she were on the cross. Her story has always been one of sacrifice, from the very beginning, and this was the moment it culminated to.
Screenshots in the bottom includes a couple from Chosen (she's fighting the First Evil, and wins not by herself, but by empowering a hundred other people to fight it as well, and I think that's important) the moment when she found her mother dead on the couch from The Body (absolutely beautiful episode. It's quite literally a work of art. I included that moment because it humanized her, and heroes are always much more heroic when they're fallible, mortal people) that one from Innocence where she defeats the invincible Judge with a bazooka because c'mon, that's flipping badass. Moments of sacrifice include the first one from the right, Prophecy Girl, where she literally sacrifices her life, and Becoming, where she killed her first love to stop him from destroying the world. So, yes, sacrifice and perseverance and badassery are pretty much Buffy's heroism in a nutshell.
This was the next one I did because Spike is important to my happiness.
Funnily enough, this was the hardest one to put together. There is no doubt in my mind that Spike is a hero, but it's hard to define it, exactly, because he spends the first six seasons acting like a complete douche. The thing is, his is a story of redemption, and redemption does not happen immediately or without hardship (as Angel has always, endlessly pointed out).
I included the quote from Chosen not because it's the most heroic or inspiring thing he's ever said, but because it basically summed up his arc. He spends so much of his time convincing himself and others that he's a soulless demon, I'm so hard and cruel - he creates such an elaborate persona for himself that even after he gets the soul you can see that he doesn't really believe it (in spite of the madness and agony that it put him through). So that moment - the moment where he's burning up and about to die - is the moment where he finally acknowledged that, yes, he does have a soul now, and yes, he has the capacity to do good, and no, that path is not easy.
The moment that is the backdrop is what happens almost directly after he says that. He sacrifices himself to save the world. He lights up, burns up, and then dies. (Until Angel season 5 that is, heeheeheeheeheeeheee....)
Moments included in the screenshots below include fighting for and earning his soul (first to the left and to the right, respectively), the aftermath of receiving his soul (he burns up on the cross - he was quite ill in many ways after he got his soul, as he suffered so much guilt thereafter. Should we sympathize with him for feeling bad about murders and atrocities he himself committed? Well, you have to remember that ensouled Spike and soulless Spike are two different people - they're similar, certainly, in many, many ways, but they are not the same. It would be like waking up and discovering that you've murdered your whole neighbourhood in your sleep). Also, the moments building up to his redemption - so, he comforts Buffy upon hearing about her mother's illness rather than murdering his arch-nemesis in her moment of weakness, he is kidnapped by a hell goddess and tortured for information about Buffy's sister and he gives nothing away even though there's nothing in it for him, and that terrible, heart-wrenching moment when he watched Buffy die. Literally, I think I'm through the scene without crying, and then I see Spike's reaction and I bawl along with him. I included that for the same reason I included the moment where Buffy saw her dead mother - it humanized him, and as I say, humanization is important to keep heroism heroic.
And here's Willow.
The quote I included is a little obscure and a little bit, um, inaccessible, but here's the gist of things: Willow turned evil for a while. She went all Dark-Willow and tried to kill a lot of people and nearly succeeded in destroying the world. This was due mostly in part to her dangerous addiction to magic and the power associated with it (she's the most powerful witch in the world). So when she says this, it's after Giles has rehabilitated her, and she's talking about the revelations she had while re-learning how to use magic for good again. I like to think she's also talking about herself here. Because for the longest time, Willow was the cute, nice, quirky kid who everyone always relied on. But there's always been darkness in her, and this moment was her voicing her realization of that fact and that she has to control it. Similar to Spike's (though not quite as worn with hardship), hers is also a story of redemption.
The moment that is the backdrop is from Chosen, when she goes again into deep, dangerous magic, and the others worry about her relapsing and going dark once more. Instead, the opposite happens. She goes light. She went a layer deeper in her magic and discovered that even underneath the darkness and evil there is good. This was such an important moment.
Screenshots from the bottom include shy nerdy Willow being badass, Willow kicking the ever-loving sugar out of Glory after she stole Tara's sanity, Willow's rehabilitation after her stint in the dark side, and Willow mourning Tara's death. Because, you know. Humanization. Willow's story is about growing into herself, which takes courage, and then choosing to be good even after witnessing the power that came with being bad. That's heroism.
Xander! Xander is my boy! Xander is my boy and I will not hear a word against him. Ever.
So the quote on this one is from Potential, when he's talking to Dawn about how she could have been a Slayer but then she wasn't and he's comforting her about being one of the... y'know, the muggles. He always struggles with being the one without powers, and a constant insecurity of his is that he isn't valuable because he has no supernatural powers, or because he has no knowledge of the supernatural besides what he learns as he goes along. Basically, he thinks he's useless for a good portion of the time. And that's just not true. As it also says, he's the one who sees. All of the other Scoobies always have an agenda, and let's not pretend Xander never does because there've been a few infamous moments, BUT, generally, Xander is the reality check. And that's an important role. (He's also the cohesion that keeps the group from hating each other, which is equally important, but not really relevant at this time).
The backdrop is from Buffy vs. Dracula. This was the moment where he set the tone for his own character development. For the past four seasons, but the one before this more so than usual, Xander was the buttmonkey (he coined this term in Buffy vs. Dracula, actually). Everything bad that could happen to anyone happened to him. He struggled with finding success in any aspect of his life and it took basically nothing for Spike to convince him that the others found him to be nothing but a dumb, useless weight. So when Buffy vs. Dracula happens, and he gets mind-controlled by Dracula (if you've ever read the original novel by Bram Stoker, he basically becomes Renfield) he finally stands up for himself. He says no. He will not be that guy anymore. He's going to get it together. For the longest time he's been the lightning rod of hate and this is him refusing that role. That's always really inspiring to me.
Moments in the bottom include: When Xander was forced to stake his childhood best friend - can you say, formative moment? The time Xander brought Buffy back to life using CPR, the time Xander rammed Glory with a freaking wrecking ball, practically destroying her - yeah, tell me again how Xander is useless. Xander talking Willow out of destroying the world using the power of friendship - I bawled my eyes out. Xander taking on a bunch of demons alone because all the other Scoobies were busy (reminder: Xander has absolutely no powers whatsoever, which makes that showdown a hundred times more awesome). Xander getting his eye gouged out. Xander facing his abusive father. Xander when Anya died. I put a lot of Xander's most human moments in there. Do I need to say it again?
But, if you'll notice, all the times Xander was a hero, it was in the most human way. He didn't bring Buffy back to life through magic. He used CPR. He didn't fight Willow to stop her from destroying the world. He talked her out of it with the most human, vulnerable thing: love. Xander is, not to sound redundant, but he's meant to be the personification of a human. He's infinitely flawed, but he tries, and fundamentally, he's good. That's his story. Trying to find a way to fight for good in spite of the fact that being a regular old human with a hundred flaws can make it very hard. Fighting even when you're overpowered a thousand to one. I think that's inspirational, and I think that in itself is a form of heroism.
Hey look, it's Anya! Look at all the colours of hair she had! It's a rainbow of blonde!
I love this quote from End of Days. Sadly I had to shorten it because it was a long, fabulous monologue that I suggest you look up because it's incredible, but I really really love this quote. What I adore about Buffy in general is that it acknowledges the crappiness of humanity while still adhering to the (perhaps naive) belief that fundamentally it is good with some mistakes, rather than believing we are fundamentally evil and sometimes we're accidentally nice. When Anya says this, she speaks as an outsider making observations. What you have to understand is that, for a thousand years, she wasn't human. She was a demon. And she did evil things. So when she became human, and started having to pay attention to them so she could act like them, she was initially really confused by them. And leading up to this scene, she's been really morally ambiguous. A lot of crappy things have happened to her as a result of, well, human error (and Xander has no small part to play in some of that error - naturally, being the most human) and this is her deciding that, despite the crappy things, humans are good. They fight when it's needed. And because of that, they deserve to not be wiped out by evil. And she's going to help.
The moment that is the backdrop...... is nothing particularly important to her character, to be honest, it was just the one that I found to be the most visually interesting. If you must know, she's singing about the evil of bunnies. Buffy running gags are the best running gags.
Moments in the bottom include The Gift, when she basically came up with every single way to kill Glory on the fly and everyone was doubting her, Selfless, when she sacrificed her life to bring back a bunch of frat boys (who she killed, being a demon, but she took it back in the most selfless act, and that's important), Two to Go, when she was helping with a spell to save a couple of nerds no one liked even though, at this point, she's a demon who shouldn't care, from The Body when she had that heartwrenching monologue about death (humanization!) and from Chosen, when she fights the First Evil with the rest of them (and died don'ttouchmeI'mcrying). I also included a lot of moments from her relationship with Xander - being proposed to, the ecstasy of being in love with him, and then being left at the altar (I said he made a few mistakes, okay?) partly because those very human emotions were needed to remind us that this bizarre character actually is human, but also because it shows her growth, I think. For a long time Anya defined herself by the men in her life - when she was a demon she took revenge on men for scorned women, and then she was with Xander almost immediately after that, and it's only near the end of the series that she starts to be able to define herself by who she actually is. And even when she understands herself, she fights alongside them, by her own choice and not just because Xander's in on it as well. That's the moment when it really means something. You get me?
Anya's a hero because, when all is said and done, she actively fights for good, even though she doesn't have to and it ultimately has nothing to do with her. And because she has the courage to define herself despite centuries of belonging to everyone else. She (along with Xander) is definitely one of the bravest characters. Don't even fight me on this.
Giles is actually the best.
(Weird that no one calls him Rupert, though..... except for Spike, which is extra weird.......)
The quote is from The Freshman, after temporarily abandoning a struggling Buffy, Giles comes back strong with this statement.
Here's the thing about Giles. He is, easily, the least dynamic character in the whole series. That doesn't mean he's entirely static - he's really really not - but his development/evolution is a lot more subtle, and arguably, less important. But that doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
So, back on the subject of the quote, this is where Giles does something similar to Xander - he sets the tone for his own character development. Giles is always faced with a choice - to be to Buffy the fatherly figure, or the headmaster. He can't be both. He's repeatedly gotten in trouble with fellow Watchers for being too fatherly with her. Fact, he got fired for it. So in The Freshman, Giles begins by making the choice to essentially leave Buffy to her own devices in an attempt to force her to develop independence. Good intentions, of course, but everyone knows that Buffy is the longest surviving Slayer, and that the only reason for that is because of the help of her friends, and that help is contributed in no small part by Giles. But eventually Giles realizes that this is a mistake (although he goes on to make the same one later on - see Once More With Feeling) and sets things right. This quote is him saying that it doesn't matter to him what's "right" (read: appropriate) and will focus instead on doing what's good - the Watcher's Council does a very good job of distinguishing that.
The moment that is the backdrop is, like Anya's, not actually terribly important to his character, but the one I found to be the most visually interesting. If you must know, it's from one of his dreams - he's singing to the gang about the Monster of the Week. ("♫And Xander, don't bleed on my couch, I just had it steam-cleaned...♫") Which is actually rather important, as part of Giles's arc is deciding whether to be the father (letting love rule his life), the educator (letting responsibility rule his life) or the rock star (letting fun/passion rule his life), and if he could possibly be some combination of them at once.
Moments in the bottom include a lot of Giles being fatherly/protective, as it's a really important part of his character. There's a lot of badassery in there too - for being initially read as so stuffy and proper, he's really an extremely passionate and emotionally driven character, as well as being extremely powerful. See: the time he nearly died in an attempt to beat Angelus to death with a flaming bat. I also included the time he intimidated the principal into un-expelling Buffy (damn that Ripper smile though), the time he was being tortured half to death by Angelus and was still snarky as hell, the time he literally impaled the Mayor with a sword for saying he was going to eat Buffy (long story). But there's also grittier stuff in there. The time he killed Ben/Glory because he knew Buffy wouldn't. Yes, I call this heroism.
I call it heroism because A) it was a task that had to be done, regardless - if there was a chance for Glory the hell god to come back, it would inevitably happen, so Giles had to ensure that there wasn't a chance. B) Buffy was, at this point, too... not innocent, not pure, let's go with too compassionate, to finish the job. She was trying to get through this without any death, especially considering that Ben didn't actually ask to become possessed by a hell god. C) Giles does it to protect her and her inherent compassion which makes her the purest hero. If you don't think this murder weighs on his conscience for the rest of his life then you're wrong. Death affects Giles like no one else (see: flaming bat). But he recognized that it had to be done. So he did it. And this isn't Ripper, who intimidated the principal, and this isn't mad-with-rage Giles either, because he completely empathizes with Ben. This is just what he takes upon himself as his inevitable duty.
What I'm saying is that Giles is a hero because, first of all, he lets love drive him to the good thing rather than fearing about the right thing, and also because he has a certain awareness about his duty when necessary. Because he finds a way to be passionate, and responsible, and loving, and have all three of those serve a purpose for the greater good.
Tara.
Tara has a very isolated sort of heroism which is largely related to her being much more courageous than people give her credit for.
An odd quote when talking about heroes, right? Except it isn't. Tara has spent a good deal of her life being abused by her family and being rejected by people who claimed to be her friends, until she met Willow and the Scoobies. And for a long time she was loved and it was great, but eventually Willow started abusing her. Until her major character development in season five, she would have passively taken that. So in this quote (in fact, it was a song in the musical episode, but that's not important), she deliberately makes the decision to leave Willow and no longer allow herself to be abused. And if you don't think that's hugely courageous then you're wrong. She's essentially being her own hero, and that's just as important as anything else.
The moment that is the backdrop is her having the sanity drained out of her by Glory when she refused to give away what Glory wanted to know. A huge, significant, and somehow forgotten sacrifice that Tara made for the Scoobies when she still didn't even know them very well. (Spoiler alert: she got better).
Moments in the bottom include: being a rock for Buffy, being a rock for Willow, being a rock for Dawn, standing up for Willow despite the fact that Willow had abused her previously - no, it's not quite as grandiose as the other character's acts of heroism, but I find it to be important. Tara is the team mom, okay? Xander may keep the group together, but Tara keeps the group sane, and often, safe. She doesn't have to do that. She has just as much to complain about as any of them. She's just a really loving, caring person, and that's important.
She also began as this extremely shy character who was scared to speak too loudly, and ends as this empowered character who stands up for Willow to Anya, who has arguably one of the biggest and unapologetic (which can be intimidating to someone like Tara) personalities out of all of them.
Tara's story is about growing into one's self, and being consistently kind but without neglecting herself. Heroic? Maybe not by the usual definition, but is she a role model? You better believe it.
This one was a little harder, but I stuck by the concept that every major character in this series was a hero in their own right. I had to look harder with Dawn, but I think it was there.
Okay, so the quote is from Real Me. This episode was our major introduction to Dawn. It's back when she was just an annoying, whiny teen. So why would I use a quote so early in her character development? Because, like Xander, like Giles, she decides for herself what she's going to be. Maybe you're gathering this from how much I'm using this, but I really appreciate that in characters. Making the decision to shape one's own life is scary, and hard, and I think really brave. It's easy to passively let life carry you, you know? It's harder to fight the current and decide your own role. And that's why I appreciate it.
The backdrop is when the magic led the Scoobies to believe that Dawn was a Potential (sort of a Slayer-to-be). I chose this because A) it was visually interesting, but also because B) this episode was important in determining exactly how heroic Dawn can be when she's given the chance to prove herself. Maybe not this moment exactly, but Potential shows Dawn helping one of her friends fight demons. Alone. Because she needed it. It also shows her humility and honesty and probably other virtues I can't quite name due to sleep deprivation, because when she found out she wasn't the Potential, she gave up the title without a second of hesitation. Even though this was her moment in the spotlight. This was going to be her moment of heroism. She gives it up. In the blink of an eye. And that, in itself, is also heroism.
Moments in the bottom include: insisting to Buffy that she, Dawn, has to sacrifice herself to save the world (Buffy ended up doing it to let Dawn live, but that's not the point - Dawn wanted to make the sacrifice. An important detail a lot of people forget). That time Dawn threatened Spike if he ever hurt Buffy, and it scared the living bejeezus out of him (refresher: Spike is one of the strongest/most dangerous vampires in the world). That time Dawn single-handedly removed an evil spirit from her house. She really did have some awesome moments.
If I had to define Dawn's arc... I don't know. It's self-discovery, I think. Discovering her own strength to use in the fight. She gets less and less damsel-y as the series goes on, so yeah, I think that's it. Finding out who she is. Finding her strength. It's important.
And that's all the collages/backgrounds I made. I know I'm missing Faith, and Angel, and Cordelia (I'm debating whether or not I should include Harmony..... probably not, eh, she ended up betraying Team Angel in the end....) but their arcs have continuations in the Angel-verse, so I'm going to start doing that while including characters from that show as well. So. Yeah.
Heroism, in all its diversity and under-appreciated nuance.
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