 Xander was good friends with Willow and Buffy. He was always the odd one out in his group of friends: he had no superpowers, or special knowledge, and Buffy didn’t like him fighting with her, as he often got hurt. Xander started dating the gang’s bitchy nemesis Cordelia, and the two had a bizarre relationship based entirely on lust. They broke up when Cordy caught Xander kissing Willow (Lover’s Walk). When his friends went to college, Xander tried several bad jobs, but he hated them all. He was living in his parents’ basement and felt ostracized from his friends as they all seemed to be more successful than him. He started dating Anya, an ex-vengeance demon, and he realised he really loved her. He got a job as a carpenter, which he discovered he was really good at, and he and Anya got engaged (The Gift). Things went well until his wedding day when Xander got cold feet, worrying that he would turn out to be a terrible husband like his father (Hell’s Bells). He left Anya at the altar and it took the two a long time to make up. They were still in love with each other, but realised they shouldn’t be in a relationship. Xander’s eye was gouged out by Caleb (Dirty Girls) but by then Xander had finally discovered his role in his group of friends: He was the heart and eyes of the group, and they needed him. Played by: Nicholas BrendonAppeared in: Every episode except Conversations with Dead People |
| Related Trivia: | |
| Suggested by: | › Jess |
| Added: | › 9th September 2004 |
| Updated: | › 27th March, 2006 |
| Hits: | › 2892 |
August 8th, 2005 at 6:43 am
xander is nice and all but i didnt think it was that nice to leave anya at the alter
August 8th, 2005 at 7:51 am
It wasn’t his fault! He had seen what could have been if he had married Anya and didn’t want to put her through what his parents were like.
August 8th, 2005 at 9:11 am
It was tough on Anya at the time but they both eventually realised that Xander did the same thing. People need to marry for the right reasons rather than doing it to please someone else.
August 14th, 2005 at 2:49 am
I always thought Joss (or whoever made the decision for Xander to leave Anya at the alter) really messed up on this one. First of all: It was too easy! I knew when it was the wedding episode that there was no way Xander and Anya were going to get hitched (Its Buffy the Vampire Slayer, no one gets a happy ending with their love) If he had had them go through with it, I would have been more surprised and it would have been a lot better.
Second, it was way out of character for Xander. Up until that point, he had always been extrememly confident in his relationship with Anya and I think for him to walk out on her was way out of his nature.
August 14th, 2005 at 3:36 am
I don’t think he was always that confident in his relationship with Anya, and he wasn’t always that nice to her. It wasn’t just Hells Bells; there were several times during season six when he acted like a total jerk. Season six was, among other things, about misogyny and male insecurity (with Warren being the extreme example) and Xander wasn’t immune. What makes Xander different is that he is able to redeem himself in the end.
And I’m sorry, once you do something as terrible as leaving someone at the altar and humiliating him or her in that way; it’s not so easy to go back after to the way things were. I know I wouldn’t be able to. And I can say that because I just got engaged three days ago. (hee-hee)
August 14th, 2005 at 10:39 am
Many congratulations, mairceridwen. Now you know what to do if a demon pretends to be you from the future and shows you a fake life on your wedding day. Don’t succumb! Marry the girl!
August 14th, 2005 at 11:38 am
[quote]Its Buffy the Vampire Slayer, no one gets a happy ending with their love[/quote]
Unless of course you’re a lesbain who needs an unexplained and uncanonical relationship thrust on you in the final season with a character that everyone hates.
In that case, you go on to live happily ever after. Which, come to think of it, was probably more painful to the fans than Tara’s death.
Puja
August 14th, 2005 at 4:21 pm
Thanks Jess
“Don’t succumb! Marry the girl!”
I am the girl
August 14th, 2005 at 4:40 pm
…or boy: your choice!
Oops, my bad sorry - just goes to show how confusing screen names can be!
Still, many congrats.
August 14th, 2005 at 4:52 pm
Congrats mairceridwen!
Did anyone like Kennedy? I will always ponder why Joss had to piss off so many fans with her. If she just became a memeber of the scoobies, it would have been bad enough but he didn’t need to make her Willow’s girlfriend.
August 14th, 2005 at 5:01 pm
It wasn’t just that Kennedy was not likeable (Buffy wasn’t always very likeable), but that her character and relationship with Willow just felt so forced. It never made sense to me why Willow liked her, after having been in love with two of the kindest characters the show produced.
August 14th, 2005 at 5:12 pm
True, true.
August 29th, 2005 at 9:55 am
Wow, I must be the only Buffy fan who liked Kennedy. Why do you peole hate her so much? Don’t get me wrong, Tara was one of my favourites, maybe my favourite character in fact, but I don’t see what’s so wrong with Kennedy. She was strong, cared for Willow and supported her through season 7 with her fear of magic…
August 29th, 2005 at 10:01 am
By the way, other than to force another relationship to end badly, I didn’t see the point, plot-wise, in having that demon spoil Xander’s wedding. Frankly it didn’t make any sense.
August 29th, 2005 at 1:44 pm
Kennedy was spoiled rotten little brat, but not in a fun way like Cordelia. Also if anyone disresepected my best friend the way that Kennedy did with Buffy, I would never date them.
How did having the demon spoil the wedding not make sense? They needed for Anya to become a demon again and what better way than through heartbreak by a man? I mean, that is exactly what motivated her work as vengence demon. It makes perfect sense.
August 29th, 2005 at 9:42 pm
Skuhm: The reason I don’t like Kennedy was that she didn’t actually appear to be a character. More a piece of plot exposition. They wanted Willow to have a happy ending, so they forced this on her. The jackhammer of plot, rather than the gentle brush of characterisation (to quote ‘On Writing’).
Kennedy had no depth, no background, no real purpose. She was a spoilt brat, but we never really found out why, what her motivations are. We didn’t find out why she liked Willow. We didn’t find out how she grew up (apart from some toot about a summer house and wings). Who were her parents? What was her situation that she could just suddenly up and leave for Sunnydale with Giles (and not seem bothered by it in the least!)?
We knew nothing about her and yet we were supposed to empathise with Willow liking her. Why? All we ever saw was an occasional bit of outrageous bitchiness, which endears you to no-one.
When Anya first started going out with Xander, we learned a lot about who she was. We had loads of Tara exposition before she and Willow were a couple. Hell, we had whole little storylines of Oz nearly meeting Willow before they actually met. And suddenly we’re given a new character, who’s suddenly revealed as gay and is going out with Willow. A fait accompli. Where’s the introduction! Why are we supposed to welcome this girl as a genuine Scooby and not just “Potential no 3”?
I love Buffy for the characterisation (as an author, it’s the kind of thing I notice). It was completely absent for Kennedy.
Puja
August 30th, 2005 at 8:17 pm
I think naothing more needs to be said actually, Puja’s comment pretty much sums it up. Very good .
December 22nd, 2005 at 8:51 am
Well, as for the earlier comments about Xander’s leaving Anya, I felt that it made sense to me why it happened, seeing as Anya wouldn’t have become a vengeance demon again had she gotten her happy ending. At the same time, I could never hate Xander for what he did. I love Xander ^____^ I know it was terrible, and completely horrible for poor Anya, whom I also love, but… it wouldn’t have been right for him to marry her if he wasn’t sure he wanted to. Though I do disagree with how he went about it.
As for Kennedy, I’m with you, Puja. But I really did hate her. something about her, from her first line, just pissed me off, lol She was the epitome of annoyance.
December 22nd, 2005 at 8:53 am
Oh, and the reason I originally came here:
I love Xander! ^____^ He’s the sweetest, dorkiest character, and his personality is just so adorable, I find it impossible not to love him. He’s like the friend you can never stay mad at. ^_____^
December 27th, 2005 at 12:36 am
yes back to the subject of xander, wow!!!! how funny is he!! especialy in Buffy vs Dracula
“Like any of that’s enough to fight the Dark Master… Bator.”
ahh its a certain way to crease me up!!
December 27th, 2005 at 9:42 pm
*Laughs* That’s probably the best Xander line ever. XD
December 31st, 2005 at 4:33 pm
I still love “Holy GoogleyMoogley Willow” and £Spadoinkle!”
te he Xander is lovely :o)
(but has any1 else noticed that his mouth sometimes, depending on lighting etc. looks very similar to that of The Joker from Batman??)
December 31st, 2005 at 4:38 pm
Oops sorry just checked and it shoulda been “Great Googley Moogley” (I’m very pedantic!)
December 31st, 2005 at 6:49 pm
I never noticed. I have noticed that one of my best friends looks like a cross of Xander and Warren, though XD
December 31st, 2005 at 6:53 pm
scary!!
December 31st, 2005 at 10:07 pm
hmm xander a warren= xandren nah thats weird lol
December 31st, 2005 at 10:11 pm
XD lol Well, my friend’s name is Frankie, so I dunno what you make of that. But maybe… Xarren? lol It’d be funny.
December 31st, 2005 at 10:22 pm
or maybe even wander!
December 31st, 2005 at 10:24 pm
That’d tie in with his Fish speech at the bar… a Fish Called Wander (oh but that was Wanda.)
December 31st, 2005 at 10:25 pm
ahh well almost, xander has a thing with fishy things the scene in the bar, and ‘go fish’
December 31st, 2005 at 10:25 pm
XD lol I like ‘Wander’. That’s great.