Daniel Osbourne

Daniel Osbourne, known primarily as "Oz", was a member of the Scooby Gang, a werewolf and also the guitarist of Dingoes Ate My Baby and a student both at Sunnydale High and UC Sunnydale.

Sunnydale High
A taciturn, guitar-playing teen, Oz eventually became eventually Willow Rosenberg's boyfriend. His most outstanding trait was his detached, ironic approach to life, masking a deeply philosophical interior. He was also the lead guitarist for the band Dingoes Ate My Baby, which performed frequently at the Bronze. A high school senior, one year above Willow and the rest of the group, he tested well, but his only real ambition lay in his music.

He noticed Willow in spite of, or perhaps because of, her Eskimo costume at a dance at the Bronze, and seemed to be interested in her at first sight. It would take a while for the two to actually meet in person. They went into, according to Willow, "some sort of holding pattern, except without the holding or ... anything else," even though they had several dates. He witnessed a vampire being dusted by Buffy Summers for the first time while he was Willow's date at a surprise birthday party for Buffy, thus becoming a member of the Scooby Gang. He was unsurprised by learning that vampires existed in Sunnydale, and merely remarked that it "explains a lot." He and Willow eventually shared their first kiss and became a couple.

He discovered that he had become a werewolf, turning into a monster on the three nights around a full moon, having been bitten on his finger by his preadolescent cousin Jordy. Interestingly, when Oz called Jordy's mother, his Aunt Maureen, to ask if Jordy was a werewolf, Maureen was apparently unfazed by the question and readily confirmed Jordy's condition. On his third night as a wolf, Oz was nearly killed by werewolf hunter Gib Cain for his pelt, but saved by Buffy and the Scooby Gang, with whose help he quickly found a way to minimize the danger posed by the wolf: he locked himself into a cage for the appropriate nights, watched over by the Scoobies in shifts.

Even though he was extremely intelligent, so much so that he, along with Willow, was tracked for a time by "the world's leading software concern", he did not manage to graduate that year, due to several incompletes and failing to attend summer school. He repeated his senior year, putting him in the same class with the rest of the gang, and graduated with them. During the year, his relationship with Willow went through rough water as he and Cordelia Chase caught Xander Harris and Willow kissing. They broke up, but got back together again after Oz confessed that he missed her. Oz and Willow had sex before the impending confrontation with the evil Mayor, concerned that they might die in battle. Willow lost her virginity as a result, and Oz, despite having already lost his, admitted that "everything is different."

After the high school blew up, Oz remarked that they survived, and Buffy said that it was "one heck of a battle". He then corrected her, saying that they did not survive the battle, but high school.

College


After graduation, he attended UC Sunnydale, together with Buffy and Willow, and enrolled in "Introduction to Psychology" by Professor Walsh with them. Unlike the other two, he did not have a dorm room, but stayed in a house off campus along with the rest of the band. Because the cage he used to lock himself up on the nights around the full moon was destroyed along with the rest of the library and Sunnydale High School during the fight against the Mayor, he locked himself up into a cage in a crypt at a local cemetery.

Despite the appearance that he had come to terms with his lycanthropy rather easily, he did hold great fear of his werewolf side. Moreover, gradually, he started to see that he and the wolf were not as separate as he liked to believe. Although in love with Willow, he was nevertheless drawn to another werewolf, Veruca, a fellow UC Sunnydale student who, unlike Oz, considered the wolf to be her true self. After spending a night in the cage with Veruca, and killing her at the following sunset to protect Willow, Oz resolved to leave Sunnydale so as not to endanger his friends further.

He traveled through Mexico, Romania, and eventually Tibet, where Buddhist monks taught him to suppress his transformations during the full moon with the help of charms, herbs, chanting, and meditation. Here he also met a Tibetan woman and fellow werewolf, Bayarmaa, nicknamed Bay, who tended to him during his stay in the monastery and with whom he meditated.

Some months later, Oz returned to Sunnydale, believing that his lycanthropy was under control through techniques learned in Tibet. Although the moon no longer affected him, he could still transform into the werewolf when faced with strong emotion ("negative stimulation"), such as anger or pain, as he discovered when he found that Tara Maclay had replaced him in Willow's affections and when The Initiative seized him for its experiments. The transformation could occur during the day.

After that discovery, Oz left Sunnydale for good, soon after the Scoobies, assisted by Riley, broke him out of The Initiative's complex. He and Willow left on friendly terms, and even admitted that she expected to run into him again at some point in her life.

Tibet


Oz returned to Tibet to continue the Buddhist practices of herbs, chants, and meditation to hold back the wolf, but realized nothing worked anymore. He was tempted to give in to his wolf side and lose himself in it, but did not, when Bayarmaa told him about the original Tibetan religion, Bon. The two studied the original scriptures and built upon the religion to make their own traditions, which came down to seeing the spiritual life in all things in the world and being quietly aware that they were part of it all. The secret was not to bottle of the wolf, but letting the energy of it flow through them without taking them, letting it pass into the world around them, and "the wolf is pulled into the earth."

Oz and Bayarmaa became involved and eventually had a son together, whom they name Kelden.

The word about their accomplishments spread, prompting other werewolves to come to Tibet in hope of a cure. One of them was Monroe, and although his progress was promising, he went out into the world too soon. He "got tempted, lost his focus, to let the power pass through him," and soon headed a group with beliefs similar to those of Veruca. During a full moon they entered the monastery and killed many of the monks, and intended to kill Bayarmaa and Oz if not for Bay transforming and incapacitating Monroe, prompting the rest of the group to flee. The group still posed a danger to Oz and his family, who carried knives with them at all times.

When the Scooby Gang arrived in a giant submarine outside of Oz's monastery, Oz agreed to attempt a similar suppression for Willow and the Slayers' magical powers as Twilight, honing in on their magic, closed in on them, but stressed the considerable danger that Buffy brought to his doorstep. Oz was injured in the battle against Twilight, but his injuries were minor.

Personality and Traits
Oz was well known for his detached and collected demeanor, all while having a deep philosophical knowledge. For example, he took the existence of the supernatural in stride, remarking that it "explained a lot," and reacted to the sight of a massive submarine teleporting outside of his monastery with a simple "Huh."

Appearance
In high school, Oz typically wore t-shirts underneath a bowler shirt, jeans and black boots. In college, he wore sneakers, baggy pants and a sheepskin jacket. He also sometimes wore ear piercings, studded bracelets and sported black painted nails, conveying Oz's look as a rock artist.

While in Tibet, he wore saffron colored monk's robes and sandals. Upon his return to Sunnydale from Tibet he displayed a more natural look than before; wearing a v-neck sweater and prayer beads. These prayer beads became a permanent part of his appearance, never taking them off from this point on. After moving to Tibet permanently, his outfits were mostly mixes of what he wore previously, ranging from monk's robes with a t-shirt over it, a combination of a long-sleeved shirt and a t-shirt, bandshirts and sweaters.

Hair


Oz usually kept his hair short, straight and spiked. Oz had a slight goatee which he eventually shaved. Oz's hair was slightly longer but when returning in "New Moon Rising" it was short again.

One of Oz's most notable features was his hair color that continuously changed:
 * Oz had light red hair but dyed it chestnut brown after his first meeting with Willow. When meeting again, Willow noticed this change.
 * Oz dyed his hair blonde after his first monthly transformations.
 * During the first months of his repeated Senior year, Oz had strawberry blonde hair which the teenage Principal Snyder thought was "great hair".
 * Oz dyed his hair black around the time he began dating Willow again.
 * Oz dyed his hair blonde around the time of graduation.
 * During college at Sunnydale and Tibet in 2005 Oz had aurburn hair.

Werewolf
During his first transformation cycle, Oz's werewolf form was bipedal with a long snout, brown-grayish fur, erected ears and long, primatial hands hands with sharp nails. In further transformations his werewolf form had a quadrupedal body, a small tail, predominately larger black fur with white fur on the lower part of his body while his face remained bare with a wrinkled, pale, more-human appearance and a flatter nose.

Powers and Abilities
Oz was a werewolf, meaning that he had the potential to transform into a berserk, lupine creature with enhanced strength, speed, stamina and sense of smell. He, like most werewolves, changed into animal form on the night of a full moon, the night preceding it, and the night following it. Later, Oz acquired some level of control over his form by traveling around the world and learning about herbs, meditative techniques, and other forms of little-known treatment for his condition. He preferred to stay human, and only changed under great emotional stress. By letting the energy of the wolf flow into the earth, he did not transform at all anymore, although the potential was still there, as evidenced by Bay.

Oz also had a highly enhanced sense of smell even when in human form. He was able to smell Willow from great distance although she "doesn't even wear perfume." Oz could also tell that she was fearful by her scent, mimicking an ability often attributed to many animals, especially canines.

He also demonstrated that werewolves could exert influence on their actions in bestial form. When Oz transformed for his battle with Veruca, he instantly attacked her until she was dead, completely ignoring Willow until killing Veruca.

Oz was also a skilled musician, specializing in electric guitar. He also was knowledgeable with regards to pop culture.

Romantic Relationships
"A werewolf in love…"

- Oz




 * Willow Rosenberg — Oz was mystified when first seeing Willow during the World Culture Dance, noticing Willow dressed as an Eskimo at the food table in the Bronze during his band's performance, showing interest in her while Devon was more interested in the beautiful Incan Mummy. He then later saw her during Halloween when she passed his van down the road while dressed provocatively when she was a ghost. They finally met on Career Day when their exceptional intellects led them to being recruited by a software company. Later that day after Oz was treated from his bullet wound, they struck up a conversation about why the monkeys in animal crackers were the only one to wear pants. When dating, Willow approached the relationship with caution, nervously asking Oz if he wanted to make-out with her while he took a calmer position, adoring Willow's worrying and cheerful personality and often calling her 'cute'. After catching Willow kissing Xander, unlike Cordelia who quickly ended the relationship, Oz took time away from Willow to think things out before rekindling their relationship because he missed her. When it came to taking imitate steps in their relationships, Oz was willing to allow them to reach that point when they were both ready while Willow tried to prove herself by preparing a romantic night during Christmas. They eventually made love before graduation, as Willow was worried she might die a virgin. When Willow was kidnapped and held at ransom by the Mayor Wilkins, Oz angrily destroyed the cauldron used to destroy the Box of Gavrok after Wesley refused to trade it for Willow. They continued dating through to college though they reached a stand still when Willow caught him the day after he slept Veruca. Knowing he truly loved Willow, Oz killed Veruca to protect Willow and left in hopes of controlling his lycanthropy. Returning to Sunnydale having believed his goal was accomplished, Willow and Oz's relationship quickly rekindled. However, when learning of Willow's relationship with Tara, Oz's strong emotional response led him to transforming during the day. Since he could not truly cure his lycanthropy, Oz left Willow once more though peacefully as his void was filled by Tara.


 * Veruca — During College, both Oz and Veruca took interest in each other before meeting due to them being both werewolves. Unlike Willow, Veruca shared Oz's knowledge of music, giving them a more to talk about. Despite their opposing viewpoints about being werewolves, the two had sex twice during their werewolf transformations, first incidentally when Oz got out of his cage and second in the cage when he tried to prevent her from harming anyone. Veruca, believing they belonged together, tried to kill his girlfriend Willow after she found out about them. Oz intervened just as he and Veruca began transforming. Veruca first encouraged him to kill Willow, but instead he turned on Veruca and broke her neck in the subsequent fight.


 * Bayarmaa — The two met in Tibet and fell in love while they studied the Tibetan religion of Bon. They then married and gave birth to one son Kelden while residing in a Tibetan temple with their pets.

Gallery

 * See Daniel Osbourne/Gallery

Behind the Scenes

 * He was portrayed by Seth Green.


 * Seth Green abruptly left the show early into the fourth season to pursue a career in movies, defending his actions saying that his character was better in a recurring capacity.


 * Oz has appeared in a total of 40 episodes: 39 on Buffy and 1 guest appearance on Angel.


 * Oz was originally supposed to be the one killed off by Angelus in Buffy Season Two, but the character's positive fan reaction resulted in the writers swapping him for Jenny Calendar.

Appearances
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Buffy Season 2

 * "Inca Mummy Girl"
 * "Halloween"
 * "What's My Line, Part One"
 * "What's My Line, Part Two"
 * "Surprise"
 * "Innocence"
 * "Phases"
 * "Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered"
 * "Becoming, Part One"
 * "Becoming, Part Two"

Buffy Season 3

 * "Anne"
 * "Dead Man's Party"
 * "Faith, Hope & Trick"
 * "Beauty and the Beasts"
 * "Homecoming"
 * "Band Candy"
 * "Revelations"
 * "Lovers Walk"
 * "The Wish"
 * "Amends"
 * "Gingerbread"
 * "Helpless"
 * "The Zeppo"
 * "Bad Girls"
 * "Doppelgängland"
 * "Enemies"
 * "Earshot"
 * "Choices"
 * "The Prom"
 * "Graduation Day, Part One"
 * "Graduation Day, Part Two"

Buffy Season 4/Angel Season 1

 * "The Freshman"
 * "Living Conditions"
 * "The Harsh Light of Day"
 * "In the Dark"
 * "Fear Itself"
 * "Beer Bad"
 * "Wild at Heart"
 * "New Moon Rising"
 * "Restless" (in Willow's dreams)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Oz

 * Oz

Buffy Season 8
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 * Retreat
 * Turbulence