- Xander
by Aeryn -3.07.05
[ aaeryn@blkswan.com ]

  Bless the gods of Craftsman, I have a topic finally, for today is the day that I will discuss the most under appreciated character on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and his name is Alexander Harris. I know some of you are now chomping at the bit saying that by no means is Xander Harris an under appreciated character, to you, I say core four, no superpowers, no magick or council training, and missing one eye. Why does he do it? Because he is Xander.

The character of Xander Harris is more complex than some think. He is the backbone, the structure that supports the Scooby Gang and he is the heart. Xander is not perfect by any means; he would be the first to admit that. To me, Xander is the frame of my car. I don’t see it there all the time, but I know it is there because my car doesn’t fall apart as I am driving down the road. His presence may not be seen a lot in Season Seven, but you see traces of Xander all around. Windows that are fixed, patched holes, replaced doors, etc, all those were silent visual cues that Xander was all around.

Now, let’s discuss something I know will come up: His bias towards Angel and Spike. Mental notes people: both guys are vampires. Yes, they have souls, but a few things. Everyone in this country has souls and we probably have a violence performed every second. A vampire killed his best friend, Jesse. Angel wore velvet jackets so ya know I can really understand that. Xander was taken with Buffy and she was drooling over the dead guy that had been evil not so long ago. Just because he was living in an alley and feeding off rats, does not make him good or bad. He turned into Angelus and tried to kill everyone he loved. Oh and Angel had a habit of hurting Buffy’s feelings, and of course, the horrible and tragic way that Angelus killed Jenny and left her in Giles' bed. (Again, I am not touching the whole multiple personality thing that some people have regarding Angel...that is for another time and by the way...it’s crap, unless the soul in him is not his own, but onto the subject.) Oh and the whole non-support at beginning of Season Three, so totally Buffy’s fault. Instead of letting her friends be there for her, she just took off. She didn’t say good-bye and left them in a town full of badness unprotected. Yes, I know she had her reasons and I felt so sorry for her, but looking at it from their view, they were justified in feeling hurt a bit as well.

We all know why he hates Spike, so quick recap: Anya, Buffy, AR, Dawnie idolized him more and evil. Ok that was productive. Onto the real issues as it were: Xander. I really enjoyed Xander with Cordelia and Anya. Both girls he does wrong, yes, but we all have our reasons, and trust me, I am glad he didn’t marry Anya rather than marrying her, then leaving her. One of my favorite overall single moments is when Xander sees Cordelia at the Prom and she is wearing the dress he got for her, another favorite is when she keeps the necklace in her locker. Also, his speech to Anya at the end of ‘Into the Woods’, it sent shivers down my back and tears down my cheeks. I sat there and wished that I could have someone that loved me and appreciated me like he did her in that moment.

Was there anyone else that had moments in the series where you stop and go, wait a minute, that doesn’t seem like something Xander would do? Don’t feel alone, there are a few of us out there. The main thing that gets me is how he and Willow hooked up. That was just out of the blue a bit too much for me. They were both happy with their significant others and it didn’t seem like something that either of them would do. I accept it; I just chalk it up to bad idea writing.

Xander is capable of such pure and blinded emotion. He may not be the best fighter, but one has to admit, sometimes he has a way with words that will make even a grown man cry. I guess that is why I see him as an under appreciated character. Things wouldn’t have been the same without him. One of my proudest Xander moments, other than the I love you speech to Anya, is the speech to Dawn in Potential. People really saw how he dealt with being the one with no powers and that it wasn’t as easy as he made it look.

In the most simplest of terms, Xander was the heart.

ducky: he is the best character cuz hes always their for people evan if they dont want him to be. and that crap bout him not supporting in the beginni of season 3 is so not true he helped keep the vamp poulation down when he could have just said screw it i'll jsut move somewere else. xander is the best oen and is under apreciated in the show but not by fans we love him
(13.03.2005, 00:34)

aka Warren: Xander is the everyman (or everyperson, if you will) and if you can’t identify with that you’ve lost touch. But at the risk of being drawn and quartered, if the Trio could use magic then was Xander just being lazy. Didn’t he use magic to accidentally set a book on fire? He could have got with the hocus-pocus. Not dissing, Lavelle is my boy!
(07.03.2005, 17:10)

Jess: there are many 'i love xander' moments. he does tend to not be noticed as much but he's definitely not under appreciated. any true buffy fan loves xander because as buffy puts in in hell's bells he's one of the good ones.
(07.03.2005, 16:18)

Tony the Off-White Knight: I always saw myself in Xander, and more often than not, myself AS Xander. He's a better man than I, but we're very similair in a lot of ways, and that's why I always loved him and rooted for him. I'm glad you love Xander, cause that means you love ME!
(07.03.2005, 13:16)