Top Five Buffy the Vampire Slayer Villains

I have a very hard time picking favorites. I buy a dozen donuts because I want to share, and then all I can think of is, “But I wanna try ALL of them.” So picking my favorites might have been harder than I thought that it would be, but hey! Here we go:

My Top Five Buffy the Vampire Slayer Villains

5) Caleb

Caleb, portrayed by the infamous Nathan Fillion (Firefly, Castle), was the creepy preacher in the final season. He rolled into Sunnydale in his janky pickup truck after helping a potential slayer who was fleeing from some eyeless guys (bringers). It seemed as though this girl had picked a good car to flag down, until Caleb mentioned something about her being a whore. That’s when the psycho defrocked preacher came out.

What we know is that, before meeting The First, Caleb would lure sweet, southern girls with his powerful sermons and manly physique away from the general public and then murder them. He then merged with The First, which is how he developed his super strength, and eventually turned his eyes black and his blood into an oily substance. His first run-in with Buffy ended with an embarrassing defeat on her part and Xander minus one left eye.

4) The Gentlemen

The Gentlemen only appeared in one episode, “Hush”, but boy did they leave an impression. In this Emmy-nominated episode, the entire town lost their voices in what was officially concluded by the press as an epidemic of laryngitis.

 “Can’t even shout,

Can’t even cry.

The gentlemen are coming by,

Looking in windows,

Knocking on doors.

They need to take seven

And they might take yours.

Can’t call to mom,

Can’t say a word.

You’re gonna die screaming,

But you won’t be heard.”

The seven that this eerie rhyme is referring to were the human hearts that the Gentlemen needed to collect. Their only setback was that human voices (unrecorded) could kill them, so when they entered Sunnydale they stole the voices of the entire town and kept them locked in a box. Imagine being held down by straitjacketed minions while creepy grinning humanoids in suits cut your heart out—and you can’t even scream. Fortunately, Buffy (with the help of her GI Joe crush) ended up breaking the box, giving these baddies a disgusting end.

3) Richard Wilkins

Richard Wilkins founded Sunnydale in the 1800s, a town that was built over a Hellmouth. He made a pact with some demons that, in one hundred years, he would finally ascend into a demon and become fully immortal. That anniversary just so happened to land on Buffy and the gang’s graduation day.

He had a very conservative, family man demeanor and frowned upon swear words. He stayed true to his character even after ascending into a giant demon that ate the principal after giving his final words, “Well, gosh.” Blew up and took the entire school building with him, he did.

He became a father figure to our rogue slayer, Faith, when she jumped off of the wagon and became a coldblooded killer. The only time his friendliness changed was when Buffy stabbed Faith and put her into a coma. Years after Wilkins was defeated, he continued to wreak havoc, leaving Faith a special artifact that caused her and Buffy to switch bodies.

2) William the Bloody (Spike)

Talk about bad guy gone good, SO GOOD! When Spike ran over the Sunnydale sign, we knew that something wicked was coming our way. In his first episode, he caused many an upset by attempting the usual assassination on Buffy and then killing our little boy, Anointed One. He and his demented, emotionally unstable lover, Drusilla, became the main antagonists in season two, joining forces with Angelus.

His character progressed so fully in the series that I had my doubts about putting him down as a villain at all, which is probably why I only put him down as number two instead of one. But, awe, what the hell. He’s the most badass vamp that ever lived. He brought the comic relief and owned every scene that he was in.

When Spike returned for a one episode cameo in season three, he ripped through that poor sign once again and drunkenly caused some disturbances. He single-handedly caused the episode to end with literally everyone upset, save himself of course, rocking out in his car with newfound confidence.

He’s been through it all. He had a chip inserted into his head to give him a painful shock every time he tried to hurt a human. He got himself a soul. He even died a little once. In just six seasons, Spike went from trying to kill the slayer to sacrificing himself to save the entire world (mostly slayer included).

AND MY NUMBER ONE BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER VILLAIN IS…

1) Glorificus

Glory was the first villain Buffy went up against who not only matched her strength, but actually surpassed it. In fact, her only weakness was the fact that the other two gods, who sought to overthrow her, put her into a mortal child named Ben. By the time Ben reached his twenties, she became too powerful to be contained and could temporarily break through as her self-centered female form. She couldn’t be killed in this form, but if Ben were to perish then she would die with him. Lucky for Ben, there was some kind of dark magic keeping mortals from grasping the concept of their body swapping tendencies.

Glory was the main antagonist for season five, and only had one goal in mind (besides looking fabulous): to find the Key. The Key could open all portals to other dimensions, including the one to which Glory had been banished. Her plan was to hop back in so that she could finally return to her true form.

Unfortunately for Glory, the mortal world started to really take a toll on her mentally and she had to do this “brain-sucking” thing to keep from going completely bonkers. This drove Ben to near-insanity, but that wasn’t Glory’s concern. Well, until she did her brain-sucking on Willow’s girlfriend, Tara, and you know what they say: Hell hath no fury like a powerful pissed off witch.

Her end was probably one of my favorites, bringing out the darker side of our stuffy librarian, Giles.

If you enjoyed Amanda’s list, you can find the rest of her work right HERE on Sci-Fi Bloggers. You can also follow her on Twitter @ErukaMoseley.

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