Faith

Faith Lehane (known in the TV series only as "Faith") is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television programs Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, portrayed in both by Eliza Dushku. Born December 14, 1980 in Boston, Massachusetts, Faith is an antihero in the series' narratives.

Faith Lehane (see Buffy RPG about her surname) is the third main Slayer to appear on Buffy. Most often described as "a rogue Slayer," Faith fulfilled the archetype of a nemesis in the classical sense, serving as the dark mirror to Buffy: similar but opposite to the hero. Series writer/producer Marti Noxon described Faith in terms of "the road not taken," a vision of what Buffy might have become if her life's circumstances were different.

Faith is a Slayer and thus has the usual powers of one, including superhuman strength, healing, speed and reflexes. Although Faith never explicitly displayed the power of prophetic dreams as displayed by Buffy on many occasions, Faith does appear to have some level of supernatural extent to her subconscious. In the season three finale ("Graduation Day, Part Two"), Buffy experiences a dream in which Faith appears to Buffy, making a cryptic reference to Buffy's impending death in the season finale of season five, ("The Gift"), as well as making several other cryptic references relevant to both Buffy and herself. Later, in the season 4 two parter comprising ("This Year's Girl") and ("Who Are You") we witness several portions of Faith's dreams in which she converses with Mayor Wilkins and overcomes a dream version of Buffy to awaken from her coma.

Faith has a particular connection with both Angel and Spike during her tenure on both Buffy and Angel; all three characters share dangerous, dark sides that have previously consumed them, allowing them to closely relate to each others' intertwining paths to redemption. The bond that Faith shares with her fellow Slayer is complex. They have unique insight into each other's personality and the burdens that they share, but they disagree about what it means to be a Slayer.

Trivia

 * In season four of Buffy episodes "This Year's Girl" and "Who Are You" Faith swapped bodies with Buffy. During this time she was portrayed by Sarah Michelle Gellar.


 * Joss Whedon announced in January 2005 that Faith's surname was Lehane, and this would be used in all future products, starting with Eden Studios's Buffy the Vampire Slayer role-playing game. The name appears in Eden's books and is considered to be canonical. Whedon explained at the time:
 * There was this role playing game or something. They said she hadda have a last name for her so I chose Lehane 'cause I wanted something southie, just as you thought. - Joss Whedon at whedonesque.com


 * Faith largely popularized the term "five by five" to mean everything is well. In voice procedure - the technique used to facilitate spoken communication over two-way radios - the term refers to strength and clarity of a signal on a scale of 1 to 5. "Five by five" is synonymous with "loud and clear" in both outward bound signals and inward bound signals.


 * The first time they met, Faith conveniently borrowed a stake from Buffy to kill a vampire. This became a running gag throughout the show.


 * Faith's signature knife, given to her by the Mayor, is a Gil Hibben 1999 Jackal - the same knife used by Praetor Shinzon in Star Trek: Nemesis.


 * Faith's first appearance in the series also marks Angel's return from Hell.


 * In the season four finale Restless the intention was to include numerous former cast members within the four core character's dreams. These would have included old faces like Amy, Cordelia, Jenny and Angel returning, as well as Faith. Faith would have featured in Buffy's dream (during the "be back before dawn" bedroom scene) which eventually ended up being filled by the character of Tara, who co-incidentally, also substituted for many scenes intended for Angel (most notably the desert scenes where she acts as translator for the First Slayer)


 * Faith was the last known slayer in the series to inherit her slayer power via the traditional slayer line.