Riley Finn

Riley Finn (born in Huxley, Iowa), a covert operative for the United States government was an agent of the Initiative and a short-time member of the Scooby Gang.

Early Life
Native to Huxley, Iowa, Riley grew up in a rural setting with fairly strong and self-reliant females around him, describing it as a Grant Wood painting. Every Thanksgiving, him and his family would stay at his grandparent's house for thanksgiving dinner before they would take a walk down a river with their dogs.

College
In 1999, Riley attended UC Sunnydale in Californa and at some point joined The Initiative, a secret government military organization located in Sunnydale aimed on researching the demons that inhabited it because of its Hellmouth. By the start of his freshman year Riley was already one of the Initiative's high-ranking soldiers and thus led a double life, both a secret agent and a college guy residing at the Lowell House along with his two friends and fellow initiative agents Forrest Gates and Graham Miller, along with several other operatives that resided in the Lowell House and used it to enter the Initiative via a secret passage. He was also the assistant teacher to psychology Professor Maggie Walsh who was one of the leading scientists at the Initiative. He developed a strong mother-son connection with Professor Walsh who also secretly fed him drugs that enhanced his physical attributes.

During his first day at college, he met fellow freshman Buffy Summers after she accidentally dropped textbooks for Introduction to Psychology on his head. The two then on continued to share an unspoken attraction to each other. He realized his feelings for her after he punched Parker Abrams for making inappropriate comments about Buffy (as Parker previously had a one-night stand with her). While Riley did his best to keep Buffy from finding out his secret life, Buffy also wrestled to keep here secret life as the Slayer. They both came by each other during their duties when the vampire Spike, named "Hostile 17" by the Initiative, escaped and attempted to kill Buffy's friend Willow Rosenberg, but couldn't because of a Behavior-Modification circuit. On the simultaneous rescue Buffy and Riley got into a fight in Stevenson Hall but could not notice each other because Riley was wearing a military face mask, hiding his face while Buffy purposely covered the room in a blinding smoke by firing a flare gun.

The truth eventually came out when a group of demons called The Gentlemen stole everyone's voices, leading Buffy and Riley to catch each other on the job. They quickly worked together to defeat them, killing several of the Gentlemen's footmen. Riley saved Buffy with his taser blaster and Buffy used sign language tell him of the box containing the voices. Despite the fact Buffy hoped Riley would be her "Joe guy", she still found comfort in the fact he was a regular human and that his ability to fight demons allowed her to worry less about his safety.

Buffy and Riley started their relationship and both fought demons together and continued saving each other's lives and the world, although Riley was never quite let into Buffy's inner circle while Riley suggested Buffy to the Initiative where her strength, speed and stamina impressed him and Maggie Walsh, though her tendency to ask questions and inability to follow protocol led to the other soldiers finding her irritating while Professor Walsh came to loathe her as she thought Buffy was taking Riley away from the Initiative. After Buffy and Riley hunted down a Polgara demon, the two passionately made love for the first time, also being the first time for Buffy to wake up after sleeping with someone and that person still being right by her side. However, Professor Walsh watched them while they were in the act via a surveillance camera, so she attempted to get Buffy killed with a faux mission and a faulty taser gun. After failing, Riley was devastated from Walsh's betrayal and left her mid-conversation despite her orders for him to stay. After hearing Walsh's following death at the hands of the cybernetically-augmented human-demon hybrid named Adam, Riley was greatly effected and started take it on Buffy, though this was largely due to the drugs given to him from the Initiative which started effecting his health. As he started to get violent and irrational, aiming a gun at an innocent civilian in a demon bar, Buffy convinced Riley to get some rest at Xander Harris' basement while she snuck into the Initiative compound with Xander in disguises to find out what project 314 was about. Riley instead followed after her, hurting Willow in the process and along with Buffy, Xander and Dr. Angleman he met Adam who recently made a stir by killing and mutilating a small child, which led Buffy to believe it was the act of a Polgara demon. Riley attacked Adam but was easily beaten along with Buffy and Xander while Dr. Angeleman was killed. After Adam escaped, Riley was treated at the Initiative hospital. Riley however, kept taking the drugs yet through his own choice.

While everything at that time was sound with Buffy and Riley, problems occurred when Riley slept with Buffy's enemy and fellow Slayer Faith Lehane who switched bodies with Buffy and seduced him. During sex, Faith felt Riley's love for Buffy opposed to the common desire for sex she felt with other men. Because this feeling being alien to her, she left him behind the next morning in bed. After a vampire attack at Riley's church where Buffy got Faith to switch back, Buffy found it difficult to get over what happened with Faith though she eventually managed with the help of Jonathan Levinson in his alternate world.

Originally, Riley was heavily prejudiced against all demons, showing no approval for Willow Rosenberg's relationship with a werewolf Oz, but he soon realized that demons are capable of both good and evil just as humans are after helping to save Oz from the Initiative base, particularly after witnessing his superiors' inhumane treatment of Oz while in his human form. Initially completely loyal to the Initiative, several events, such as Maggie Walsh's failed attempt to get Buffy killed and the discovery that she was the one who created Adam as a super-soldier, caused Riley to desire to leave the organization, but it was only when he helped to save Oz that he realized the extent of the Initiative's corruption and turned his back on them in favor of the Scooby Gang. After that he then relocated in the burnt-down ruins of Buffy's old high school, Sunnydale High. After founding out Buffy visited her ex-boyfriend and ensouled vampire Angel in Los Angeles and witnessing Angel beat a couple of Initiative agents in Sunnydale, Riley assumed Buffy has slept with Angel and that he lost his soul again. The two fought with Angel easily taking out Riley with his bare hands while Riley used every tool on him. Later in Buffy's dorm, Riley barged in with his gun while Buffy and Angel were talking. The men then argued before Buffy broke them up and explained to Riley that Forrest had been killed. Riley then suddenly left.

It was discovered that Maggie Walsh implanted a Behavior Modifier in Riley after he joined The Initiative. Adam exploited this and used the chip in order to pacify Riley before the final battle. Riley, will no other choice, removed the modifier by lacerating himself with a shard of glass and pulling it out of his body. He then fought his best friend Forrest, who had been brought back as a demon-human-cybernetic bybrid like Adam, turned completely evil. Though Riley's efforts where uneven to Forrest's new abilites, Riley managed to kill him by making him hoisted gas canister exploded after catching a live wire.

The Initiative was destroyed in the summer of 2000, and Riley was relieved of his military standing. He was left at loose ends, and his behavior became reckless.

Recklessness
A year after he met Buffy, Riley became a full time member with the Scooby Gang, though his suggested methods and tactics were foreign to them. Riley began to see himself as beneath Buffy in strength, so he began to push his body well past its limits in the hopes that he would catch up to her. He began increasing worried with Buffy's relationships with vampires, becoming jealous at Dracula's allure to Buffy, prompting him to set out in his castle and hunt him alongside Buffy's Watcher Rupert Giles, as well as noticing Spike's attraction to Buffy while coming to him for information about Dracula.

After learning that the drugs Maggie Walsh had given him were causing his pain receptors to shut down and his heartbeat to spike, Riley initially refused medical treatment from the government out of paranoia, but Buffy eventually managed to convince him. After a brief face-off with Spike and Harmony Kendall, who were attempting to force an Initiative doctor to remove Spike's chip, they successfully managed to get Riley heart surgery, though this reduced him to a normal human being, only adding to his feelings of insecurity and weakness. His relationship with Buffy also began to deteriorate when Buffy continuously failed to give him the emotional intimacy, trust, and honesty he craved. This was mostly due to her mother's illness and her growing interest in spiritually discovering her potential as a Slayer, having a long conversation to Spike about the two Slayers he killed while Riley went out patrolling with Buffy's friends and recklessly destroyed an entire crypt with a grenade to kill two vampires after killing one that staked Buffy.

Seeking thrills, and wondering what Buffy found so appealing about vampires -having allowed both Angel and Dracula to drink her blood- Riley began to let vampires feed from him, becoming a regular at a "Bite Den", an establishment were vampires are paid to bite and feed on the blood of willing customers without draining them completely. Buffy eventually discovered this with Spike's help and destroyed the building where Riley's secreting meetings had taken place. His behavior, as well as Spike's manipulations and a sense that Buffy would never truly love him, led to their breakup. Despite Buffy's best efforts to stop him, Riley rejoined the military and departed.

Marriage
In South America, Riley met Samantha, a fellow soldier who with him initially forged a duo demon-hunters, discussing tactics and missions before discussing about Buffy. They then got married shortly after. Nearly four months since the wedding, Riley returned unexpectedly in the next year, tracking a demon about to hatch eggs that could wipe out Sunnydale. However, he did not return to make up with Buffy but to ask for her assistance with Sam arriving shortly. Nonetheless, when he discovered that Buffy had been engaging in a sexual relationship with Spike, he was clearly affected, though when he discovered them in bed together and when Buffy attempted to explain the situation, he hid his emotions. He was, however, mentioned later when Buffy asked for The Initiative to remove the malfunctioning chip in Spike's brain. Riley personally sent a group of soldiers to help, but told them that what they were to do with the chip (either repair or remove it) was Buffy's decision.

Triple Agent


Over a year later, Riley joined Twilight's followers to spy for Buffy, while convincing the Twilight organization that he was their "inside man" in Buffy's inner circle, and was marked with Twilight's symbol on his chest. He later met with Buffy in New York City. Weeks later, he joined Amy Madison, Warren Mears, and Twilight as they tried to track down the Slayer Organization to Oz's monastery. During a massive battle between Twilight's forces and the Slayer Organization, Buffy saved an injured Riley and reveals to her friends that Riley has indeed been working for her as a double agent in order to find out Twilight's plans and identity. After the war in Tibet, Riley comforted Buffy, who saw herself as a terrible leader by leading the Slayer Organization into the war against Twilight. Riley also got the United States government to grant amnesty to all members of the Slayer Organization.

A few months after the Twilight crisis was averted, Riley was stationed in San Francisco where Buffy and the other Scoobies had settled down. Because magic was banished from this dimension, Riley used a surveillance van to watch out for human terrorists.

Personality
"Riley just seems ... so solid. Like he wouldn't cause me heartache."

- Buffy to Willow

Riley was the sterotypical "nice boyfriend" type. He was often depicted as friendly and very easy to be around with. He also was charming and occassionally witty. Because of his easygoing nature, Riley got along well with Scooby Gang and gained their trust, a sharp contrast from Buffy's previous boyfriend Angel following his return from Hell. Riley was rarely mean to people and very polite in nature, pleasant to just about anyone, the only exceptions being Angel and Spike(Partly because they're vampires and partly because both of them carry a romantic interest in Buffy during his time as her boyfriend).

Buffy herself as described him as very reliable and solid, which was proven to be true on many occassions throughout seasons four and five of Buffy. Also, Riley saw himself as "smooth" though upon his first time trying to flirt with Buffy, it only confused her due to his awkward ramblings, much to his embarassment and frustration. Riley was also shown to be patient and supportive when Joyce's health was deteriorating, expressing understanding towards Buffy despite also feeling disappointed she never truly opened up or allowed herself to be vulnerable with him.

Due to his affilation with The Initiative, Riley was shown to fit well in a leadership role, effectively leading the Scooby Gang upon Buffy's request during patrol and also with his squads in the miltary. Though because of his involvement with the miltary, Riley also carried a black-and-white outlook when it came to demons and humans. This was seen in his predjudice of Willow dating a werewolf at one point, much to Buffy's annoyance, who had previously been involved with a vampire. Riley seemed to slightly let go of his "all demons are bad" mentality a little during his relationship with her, but remained mostly fixed in that outlook as he openly showed distrust towards Spike, even threatening to kill him despite being harmless. Even Angel has described him as "very humans first".

Despite his outward displays of confidence and carefree nature, he was revealed to have underlying insecurities and lack of self-confidence regarding his relationship with Buffy. This was because he had worried that he wasn't strong enough for Buffy who seemed to be drawn to less-than-human men. Despite briefly casting his worries aside thanks to Buffy, it returned not long after. His character then took on a darker turn, as he became increasing more reckless, driven to the point of allowing female vampires to feed on him for a rush, as he felt more needed with them.

Riley also is seen to have a fierce jealous streak in him, as he had quickly came to blows with Angel in an alleyway while he was on his way to apologize to Buffy and had violently confronted Spike on three seperate occassions.

Powers and abilities
Due to his military training, Riley possessed immense knowledge of and expertise in strategy, hand-to-hand combat, vampire hunting, tracking, and weapons handling techniques. He also displayed medical knowledge, competently treating a severe puncture wound that Buffy suffered to the abdomen in "Fool for Love". Also, for a time, he possessed superhuman physical attributes due to the drugs he was secretly fed, though nowhere near the level of a Slayer, but lost these abilities after suffering symptoms of withdrawal from the drugs, including a heart attack.

Behind the Scenes

 * He was portrayed by Marc Blucas.


 * Riley was introduced in the fourth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer as a recurring character in 7 episodes of that season before being promoted to the regular cast in "Doomed", appearing in 20 out of its 22 episodes, being absent in "Living Conditions" and "The Harsh Light of Day" in his recurring span. He then continued as regular in season five for the first 10 episodes before his departure in "Into the Woods" where he was taken out of the regular billing. He then made on final appearance on the series in "As You Were" with Marc Blucas credited as a "Special Guest Star". He overall has appeared in 31 episodes.
 * Marc Blucas was asked how the character was described to him during the audition process, he replied that "They said that Riley is a nice, charming guy, and there's going to be some kind of dichotomy, some kind of double role going on. But that was never really specified."


 * Whedon defended the character of Riley Finn, "The important thing for us was to find a character that was the anti-Angel and to have Buffy go through something very different, part of which was the question, 'How do I get over Angel?' That was the same thing the audience was going through. We knew it wasn't going to be easy and it was very hard trying to find somebody. But Marc [Blucas] has a quality that I love very much: he has sort of an un-David-like, firm, strong, trustworthy quality. I always think of him as Gary Cooper." During the fifth season, writer/co-executive producer, Marti Noxon, noted that they were making Riley a more tortured complex character, "He's starting to fray around the edges. That's very compelling to me - that this straight guy is starting to get a little strange."


 * Actor Christian Kane also auditioned for Riley Finn. Kane went on to play the role of Lindsey McDonald on the spin-off show Angel. Kane says he played his audition for Riley "perhaps a little less than wholesome", which he feels resulted in Joss Whedon later casting him as a darker character.