 Riley was a cheerful teaching assistant at UC Sunnydale, and also a secret Government Agent who worked for the Initiative, which trapped and tested vampires and demons. He met Buffy and realised he liked her (The Initiative). When the two eventually kissed, they discovered each other’s secrets - his involvement in the Initiative, and her a Vampire Slayer (Hush). They started dating properly and worked together killing vampires. Buffy discovered that the Initiative wasn’t entirely good and Riley’s mentor Maggie Walsh tried to kill her (The I in Team). Riley left the Initiative eventually, and then realised that they had been feeding him drugs to make him more powerful. Once Riley had rid himself entirely of the Initiative he felt useless, which wasn’t helped by having a girlfriend with superpowers. Riley realised that Buffy didn’t really love or need him and he began visiting vampire brothels where he paid female vampires to bite him, to make him feel needed. Buffy saw him at the brothel and was disgusted (Into the Woods). On the same day, the Government asked Riley to go to the jungle with them as a demon hunter and he confronted Buffy, saying he would leave unless she could give him a reason not to. By the time Buffy came to her senses, Riley had left. He returned briefly a year later to kill a demon he’d been tracking. He met with Buffy and introduced her to his new wife. The two headed off together James Bond-style to fight more demons and never be seen again (As You Were). Played by: Marc BlucasAppeared in: The Freshman, Fear, Itself, Beer Bad, Wild at Heart, The Initiative, Pangs, Something Blue, Hush, Doomed, A New Man, The I in Team, Goodbye, Iowa, This Year's Girl, Who Are You?, Superstar, Where the Wild Things Are, New Moon Rising, The Yoko Factor, Primeval, Restless, Buffy vs Dracula, Real Me, The Replacement, Out of My Mind, No Place Like Home, Family, Fool For Love, Shadow, Listening to Fear, Into the Woods, As You Were |
| Related Trivia: | |
| Suggested by: | › Jess |
| Added: | › 10th September 2004 |
| Updated: | › 27th March, 2006 |
| Hits: | › 2181 |
August 14th, 2005 at 3:09 am
Shouldn’t he be listed as a main character?
August 14th, 2005 at 10:41 am
He was, but he got demoted after I rewatched As You Were.
August 14th, 2005 at 10:45 am
OK, I’ve promoted him again, even though every fibre of my being wanted not to.
November 19th, 2005 at 8:24 pm
Something occured to me last week when I was watching season 5 again. And it’s just a theory, and not even that, more of a reaction, gut feeling on what really separates Buffy’s relationship with Angel from her relationship with Riley.
I think Buffy would have told Angel about Dawn being the key. If he were still in town. And if there was no chance of him becoming evil again.
I know she didn’t tell anyone aside from Giles right away. But I have this feeling that she would have told Angel. I think she would have *trusted* Angel with the information more than she did with Riley, because Angel (given his age and knowledge and experience) would have known how to handle it, whereas Riley would have gotten all manly and stupid. Also, unlike Riley, Angel would have been strong enough to protect Dawn.
It’s just a thought.
December 30th, 2005 at 5:57 pm
Yeah I definitely agree with this Mair, I too have thought about the same thing.
I think Angel would have been able to handle Dawn being the Key in a much better way than Riley would have if Buffy had told him. And Angel would totally have been stronger and much more able to protect Dawn.
At the end of the day, IF Buffy had told Riley he just wouldn’t have been able to cope with it and would probably have got himself killed trying to protect Dawn and Buffy from Glory.
December 30th, 2005 at 5:59 pm
PS, Also meant to menion… As a character I wasn’t keen on Riley Finn. I didn’t think much to Marc Blucas’ acting ability and to be honest Riley just came across as really whiney and a bit, erm, plastic. But I understand that the character was very important to the story, and I liked seeing where it all lead.
July 16th, 2006 at 3:10 pm
I think there is a reason peple don’t like Riley, because Joss pushed them together soon after Angel left. And come on, face it, everyone loved the Angel/Buffy relationship. And people just have problems transfering their affections to another couple. I admit, Angel was better than Riley. But I still think Riley Finn, Captain America, was kinda cool. And kinda goodlookin’.
July 16th, 2006 at 10:19 pm
Yeah RockinRooster. I mean, I really liked Riley even though at times he could be really annoying. I just think in comparison to Angel, he was sort of a joke. Riley tried to be all macho and cool when Angel was those things and more without trying. We were all used to Buffy having the tortured soul who stayed to the shadows and only came out for his love for Buffy and fought his own kind for the good of the world. Then, we get this All-American guy who had some gadgets and lived in Iowa: He seemed lame compared to Angel. In his own way, Riley was cool though.
This is kind of a funny story: My aunt bought a picture off of eBay of the entire beginning season 5 cast: Buffy, Dawn, Giles, Xander, Anya, Willow, Tara, Spike, and Riley. It has all the actors autographs by their pic and came with a certificate of authenticity. Whats funny is the certificate mentioned all the actors excpet Marc Blucas but did mention David Boreanaz. I looked and the autogragh by Riley was Boreanaz’s signature! So, somehow Boreanaz ended up signing that picture thinking it was him as Angel I guess. My boyfriend thought it was funny and said, “How much more evidence do you need to prove Riley was just a replacement for Angel?”