Buffy the Vampire Slayer was all about subverting expectations. The reason why the eponymous character was named Buffy Summers was to take a name that had connotations of being “vapid” or “shallow” and then flip that prejudice upside down by making her the heroic Chosen One. The same love of subversion applies to the villains Buffy faces, too, as many of her most insidious foes initially appeared weaker or more innocent than they really were.
Sometimes a vampire or demon initially appears as a human civilian or even an ally before outing their true evil nature. Other times, Buffy and friends battle what they believe to be a garden-variety demon before discovering that they are actually something much more ancient and powerful. Either way, the Scooby Gang repeatedly faced villains who turned out to be far stronger than they first realized, with many of these foes turning out to be the biggest threats Buffy ever encountered.
5
Doc Was More Than Just a Creepy Occultist
Season 5, Episode 21, “The Weight of the World”
The demon known only as Doc originally looked to be a one-off villain for the seventeenth episode of Season 5, “Forever.” Struggling to deal with her grief over her mother’s recent death in “The Body,” Dawn went to Doc to learn a ritual to resurrect her mother. At this point, all that’s known of Doc is that he has a seriously creepy demeanor, and his tail gives him away as a demon (or perhaps a half-human one, like Angel‘s Doyle). He’s clearly an expert in the occult, but in the wider context of Sunnydale’s sinister population, Doc appears small-fry.
When he reappears for the final two episodes of Season 5, however, Doc’s true darkness is unveiled, along with his unexpected durability — not to mention his toadlike tongue. Doc outs himself as a devoted acolyte of Glory, whose evil goes far beyond selling dark magic grimoires. In actual fact, he is dedicated to aiding in the demon goddess’ quest to destroy the world. As for his personal strength, Doc is able to survive a sword to the chest unharmed and even bests Spike in a fight, throwing the vampire off the tower where Dawn is to be sacrificed.
Memorably, when Buffy arrives on the tower to save her sister, Doc prepares for a showdown, saying, “This should be interesting.” In no mood for playing around, though, Buffy simply shoves him off the tower, presumably to his death. It would have been interesting if Buffy had actually deigned to do battle with Doc, as he may well have given the Slayer a run for her money. Still, given his mighty healing factor, it is possible that Doc survived his fall, so he may well be one of the few opponents Buffy failed to kill.
4
Drusilla’s Psychic Power Should Not Be Underestimated
Season 2, Episode 22, “Becoming, Part 2”
Given Spike’s immense popularity and the franchise-defining twist that was Angel becoming Angelus, Drusilla tends to be overlooked when it comes to the trio of vampires who cause no end of strife in Buffy Season 2. Dru tends to be remembered for her volatility, and either the creepy or comedic moments that her personality spurs, rather than considered one of the strongest villains in Buffy lore. And yet, come the season finale, Dru proves that she has one rare skill in her back pocket that makes her extremely dangerous.
Specifically, her knack for hypnosis and mesmerism. The Master was also a gifted hypnotist, but his mental powers seemed temporary and not impossible to shrug off. Drusilla, on the other hand, has far greater psychic faculties. When torturing Giles into giving up Buffy’s plans, Dru is able to hypnotize him so completely he believes she is his dead girlfriend, Jenny. What’s more, in the same episode, Dru mesmerizes Kendra during a fight, which allows her to deliver the fatal blow, slicing the Slayer’s throat with a razor-sharp fingernail.
Buffy reminds viewers again and again that Spike killed two Slayers in his past, and Angelus is routinely hyped up as the worst vamp of them all, but Drusilla is the only vampire to actually kill a Slayer (permanently) on-screen. Dru may not be as physically strong as either her ex or her sire, but the force of her psychic power means she is much more of a threat than her kooky personality suggests.
3
Glory’s Godlike Nature Was a Massive Twist
Season 5, Episode 12, “Checkpoint”
By Season 5, audiences had seen Buffy and her friends save the world several times, overcoming seemingly impossible odds at every turn. Whether vampire, demon, or anything in between, Buffy had proven that she could take on anything. The bar had to be raised in a big way for Season 5, then, but the show takes its time with the latest big bad Glory, hiding the true nature of her enormous power until the season’s half-way point.
It’s clear from the off that Glory possesses strength and abilities far beyond those of a regular demon, with Buffy severely outclassed in her first fight against her in Episode 5. However, it isn’t until the memorable closing moments of Episode 12 that the Slayer finally discovers the reason why. Demanding answers about her enemy, Buffy asks Quentin Travers, head of the Watcher’s Council, what kind of demon Glory is. “Well, that’s the thing, you see,” Travers explains. “Glory isn’t a demon… She’s a god.”
In subsequent episodes, it becomes clear that Glory is specifically a hell-god, the ruler of her hell dimension, marking her out as easily Buffy’s most cosmically powered enemy outside of the First Evil. Even after a tough beating, the veteran Slayer was still convinced Glory would turn out to be a manageable threat. But upon finding out her opponent was a god, Buffy had to accept she was out of her depth. As Dwayne Johnson might put it, the hierarchy of power in the Buffyverse was about to change.
2
Dark Willow Was the Villain Fans Never Expected to See
Season 6, Episode 20, “Villains”
When it comes to Buffy villains who turned out to be stronger than they looked, you can’t get a more drastic example than Willow Rosenberg. Back in Buffy‘s pilot episode, the Slayer’s best friend started out as a nerdy teen with a serious self-confidence problem. Fast forward to the Season 6 finale, however, and Willow had grown into not just a powerful witch but, temporarily, a dark sorceress on the verge of bringing about the apocalypse.
Willow’s growth as a witch is such a slow-burn that the full extent of her proficiency with magic surprises the viewer at every turn. By the end of Season 2, Willow performs a re-ensoulment ritual to return Angel’s soul. By the end of Season 3, she has mastered telekinesis. Willow’s status as a heroic character means the audience never thinks of her as a growing threat — until Season 6, when her increasing addiction to magic sees her go off the deep end, and both the characters and the viewer begin to mistrust her.
Even then, it isn’t until Tara’s death at Warren’s hand that Willow fully turns to villainy, at which point it becomes impossible to ignore just how terrifyingly powerful she now is. Fans often like to treat Dark Willow, as she’s known (though Andrew prefers “Darth Rosenberg”), as a separate person from regular Willow, but the truth is that dark power was inside of her all along. She just didn’t allow herself to embrace it until the worst moment of her life.
1
Darla Set the Template for Surprise Buffy Villains
Season 1, Episode 1, “Welcome to the Hellmouth”
Dark Willow is perhaps the best example of a Buffy villain who is stronger than they first appeared, but the most definitive example has to be Buffy‘s first ever villain who appeared in its first ever scene. It’s easy to forget that the first scene of Buffy doesn’t introduce the Slayer herself, but Darla, a character who will go on to become hugely important to Buffyverse lore.
“Welcome to the Hellmouth” begins with a guy encouraging a girl to creep into Sunnydale High at night. Given that the series is called Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and the young man’s pushy and leering behavior, the viewer is left with the distinct impression that he’s going to turn out to be a vampire and kill this poor girl. However, the big twist of the scene is that the man is not the vampire, she is. Once they’re safely secluded inside the school, she reveals her monstrous vamp-face and attacks him with her fangs.
The pilot’s opening scene is such a perfect way to kick off Buffy, as it makes the show’s love of subversion clear from the off. Here, young women are not the victims like in so many horror properties; instead they are the heroes or they are the villains. From this point on, fans should’ve known that virtually no character could be trusted, even beloved characters like Willow. The show’s first ever twist, that Darla is a vampire, introduces a warning to the viewer that Doc, Glory, and many other characters who came later emphasize: anyone can turn out to be a monster.
- Release Date
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1997 – 2003-00-00
- Network
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The WB
- Showrunner
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Joss Whedon
- Directors
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Joss Whedon
- Writers
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Joss Whedon
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Sarah Michelle Gellar
Buffy Summers
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Nicholas Brendon
Alexander Harris