Scooby Gang

"A Slayer with family and friends. That sure as hell wasn't in the brochure."

- Spike

The Scooby Gang, or "Scoobies", was the core group formed after the arrival of Buffy Summers to Sunnydale in order to battle the supernatural forces of evil and assist Buffy in her duties as the Slayer.

The group was first referred to as the Scooby Gang by Xander in the Season Two episode "What's My Line, Part One" as a reference to the group of ghost-hunting teenagers from the cartoon Scooby-Doo. Coincidentally, Sarah Michelle Gellar, the actress who plays Buffy on the show, has also appeared as Daphne Blake in the films Scooby-Doo and Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed.

The Scooby Gang usually take an unimpressed, flippant attitude towards extraordinary events and supernatural occurrences. Originally a group of teenage friends attending Sunnydale High in a town build on top of a Hellmouth, the group gradually expanded, eventually merging with the Watchers Council to become a global organization, dealing with demonic threats worldwide and training thousands of Slayers. In the beginning, Buffy often had to protect her friends from monsters, but over the course of the series most of them gained superpowers and fighting skills of their own, with Xander the only notable member with no mystical abilities or connection to the supernatural. Because of the show's strong themes of female empowerment, the most powerful members of the team are often female (Buffy and Willow), while the men play passive roles such as that of father-figure (Giles) and supportive best friend (Xander). Also, in keeping with the show's themes of redemption and moral ambiguity, many of the Scoobies have at some point in their lives been evil and even murdered people before, but are now fighting on the side of good.

"Why do demons even come here any more? I mean, don't they know..."

- Willow

The group is also sometimes referred to as the "Slayerettes," mostly in early episodes or later in the scene descriptions to refer to the Potentials, but mostly it didn't catch on with fans. Both Willow and Spike have used the term in the show on different occasions. In fact, this name served as the semi-official name for the group until Xander coined their true name while they were all on the run from the Order of Taraka.

Scooby Gang members
(In order of length of membership)
 * Xander Harris — The most consistent and reliable member of the Scoobies, the wise-cracking Xander is notable for being one of the few characters in the show with no "superpowers." Instead, his insight, compassion, and support is how he helps his friends in the battle against evil; for example, bringing Willow back from the brink of darkness with his unconditional love in Season Six. Xander also possesses some knowledge of military combat and weapons after being turned into a real solider in a Halloween episode.


 * Buffy Summers — As the Slayer, Buffy possesses enhanced abilities which enable her to battle the forces of darkness. She is the focal point of the Scooby Gang, as the team initially formed around her responsibilities as the Chosen One, and she is very close to most of its members. Buffy is often reluctant to accept her destiny and leadership position, but is forced to train her fellow Slayers in the fight against evil.


 * Willow Rosenberg — Willow's abilities as a witch make her the most powerful member of the Scooby Gang. She sometimes resents being known as a "sidekick", leading the team during Buffy's temporary death between Seasons Five and Six. Willow frequently struggles to control her own immense power, but is responsible for magically activating all of the Potential Slayers in the world.


 * Rupert Giles — Originally Buffy's Watcher, Giles acts as a father-figure and mentor to most of the other Scoobies. Giles is a founding member of the team, before returning to England in Season Six so that Buffy will take responsibility for her own life. He returns to the Scoobies on several occasions in times of need, and now trains a squad of Slayers.


 * Anya Jenkins — A millennia-old vengeance demon who becomes mortal and falls in love with Xander. Anya struggles to understand human conventions, and often offends people, usually because of her frank honesty and literal approach to speech. Initially very selfish, she eventually comes to respect humans and proves her loyalty to the team many times.


 * Dawn Summers — Buffy's younger sister, Dawn is actually a mystical orb of energy who was turned into human form by monks and given false memories. Dawn suffers from abandonment issues because of her traumatic life. However, she considers the Scooby Gang to be her surrogate family, and is very close to them.


 * Spike — Formerly an enemy of the Scoobies, this punk vampire switches sides when he is fitted with a microchip which prevents him from harming humans. Spike eventually falls in love with Buffy and becomes a true hero, seeking out his soul in order to prove his worth. Despite all of this, the other Scoobies' opinions of him vary; Buffy, Dawn, and Willow are more friendly towards him and treat him civilly; Xander and Giles are openly hostile towards him outside of combat situations (and vice versa); and all remain somewhat wary of him.


 * Tara Maclay — Willow's girlfriend and soul-mate. Although she is a powerful witch, Tara rarely performs offensive magic, except in extreme circumstances when her friends were in danger. Initially very shy, Tara is somewhat of an outcast among the Scoobies, who aren't sure what to make of her. However, she eventually forms strong friendships with most of them, in particular Buffy and Dawn, and Anya to a lesser extent.


 * Cordelia Chase — A snobby cheerleader at Sunnydale High, Cordelia looks down on the Scoobies, who she considers unpopular and therefore beneath her. However, she often finds herself in perilous situations and relies on Buffy to save her. In Season Two, Cordelia becomes Xander's girlfriend and an official member of the Scooby Gang, until she leaves for Los Angeles and joins Angel Investigations.


 * Angel — Buffy's vampire lover throughout Seasons One to Three. Angel rarely socializes with the other Scoobies, contacting them only when necessary, and largely only meets up with Buffy and Willow outside of combat situations. His relationship with the group is strained when he turns evil and murders Giles' girlfriend, and he eventually leaves for Los Angeles where he and Cordelia form their own group, Angel Investigations.


 * Daniel "Oz" Osbourne — A member of the gang and romantic interest of Willow in parts of season 2 through season four. Oz is werewolf and also the guitarist of Dingoes Ate My Baby and a student both at Sunnydale High and UC Sunnydale. He is very intelligent and deep, but rarely speaks sometimes. He is a valuable member of the team, until leaving to learn to control his werewolf attributes in season 4.


 * Andrew Wells — Another former villain, Andrew is an immature nerd who the Scoobies hold hostage in Buffy's house. He soon shows remorse for his past crimes, and tries to join the team, but the other Scoobies find him irritating, and often mock him. After surviving the Hellmouth battle in Season Seven, Andrew trains to be a Watcher and leads a group of Slayers in Italy.


 * Riley Finn — Buffy's college boyfriend, Riley is a soldier for government demon-hunting operation The Initiative. When he learns that the institute he was working for was corrupt, Riley joins the Scoobies instead. While on good terms with Buffy's friends, his relationship with Buffy disintegrates and he leaves to join another army unit.


 * Faith Lehane - A troubled Slayer, and often called "Rogue Slayer", Faith has had her evil moments, and is considered to be the anti-Buffy. She arrives in Sunnydale in Season 3 after her Watcher is killed and works as an ally for the Scooby Gang until she accidentally kills a man, leading her to join up with Mayor Richard Wilkins. In Season Four she flees to LA, where she is helped by Angel and turns herself in to the police, and later becomes a full Scooby member in Season 7. As of Season Eight, she and Giles have decided to partner together in a "Slayer social worker" program to keep Slayers from going to the dark side.

Relationship/Comparison with Angel Investigations
The Scooby Gang has a rather confusing relationship with their Los Angeles counterparts, Angel Investigations- despite Angel Investigations being essentially a splinter organization that was formed by Angel and Cordelia after they left the Scoobies to operate independently-, in addition to numerous similarities. They have similar goals and morals, though the members of A.I. are more willing to kill evil humans if they are certain the situation requires it- such as Angel killing blind assassin Vanessa Brewer- while the Scoobies prefer to leave their human enemies alive to face human justice for their crimes- such as Buffy's reasons for wanting to spare Warren Mears after he unintentionally killed Tara Maclay- and use firearms; during "Sanctuary", Angel actually briefly fought with Buffy when she came to Los Angeles over their differing opinions regarding Faith, Buffy wanting Faith to be punished for her actions and Angel arguing that she deserved a chance at redemption, though both sides were somewhat satisfied when Faith willingly turned herself in to the L.A.P.D.

Another key difference between the Scoobies and A.I. is the exact way their groups operate. While A.I. operates as a private detective service, publicly offering their services to others and thus granting themselves a semi-legal reason for their actions, the Scoobies largely remain underground as a vigilante force, with few people besides their closest friends and family members even knowing of their existence. Another key difference is how others view them as of recent events: while the Angel Investigations staff are hailed as celebrities and heroes for their actions in the Fall of Los Angeles, the Scooby Gang is viewed and denounced as a terrorist group by the world at large.

While the Scoobies tend to handle the more large-scale, immediate enemies, with their traditional 'Big Bads' representing immediate threats to the world as a whole- save in the case of The Trio, who were primarily comically dangerous rather than genuinely malevolent-, A.I.'s enemies are traditionally more patient, long-term planners, Wolfram & Hart constantly subtly attempting to subvert and corrupt Angel due to his prophecised role in the Apocalypse and the entity known as Jasmine having apparently planned for years to manipulate the team into a position where she could be reborn.

It is often implied that the Scoobies and A.I. have met each other on occasion off-screen. Fred calls Willow for help against Angelus in Angel season four, and Willow is/was aware of Connor's existence and relation to Angel before meeting him in that same episode. Additionally, Buffy knew where the original Angel Investigations offices were located and went to confront him there, whereas Willow visited the Hyperion Hotel to inform Angel of Buffy's death; in "Blind Date", Cordelia also called Willow for advice and tips when attempting to hack encrypted computer files that Angel had stolen from Wolfram & Hart.

In addition, several Expanded Universe materials, most notably Monster Island, depict the Scooby Gang and Angel Investigations teaming up to take down a greater common foe (In Monster Island, for example, the group fought a demon army lead by Axtius, the father of former A.I. member Doyle).

Season 1

 * Buffy Summers
 * Xander Harris
 * Willow Rosenberg
 * Rupert Giles
 * Allies:
 * Angel (intermittent; role consists mainly of dropping in to give Buffy advice on the current crisis)
 * Jenny Calendar (from around the episode "I Robot, You Jane")
 * Cordelia Chase, (from around the episode "Out of Mind, Out of Sight")

Season 2

 * Buffy Summers (until she leaves at the end of "Becoming, Part Two")
 * Xander Harris
 * Willow Rosenberg
 * Cordelia Chase (reluctant member but typically ends up involved with or assisting in their problems)
 * Rupert Giles
 * Daniel "Oz" Osbourne (from around the episode "Surprise" after witnessing a vampire be staked in front of him)
 * Angel (more regular ally to the group until he loses his soul in "Surprise")
 * Allies:
 * Jenny Calendar (until she is murdered by Angelus in "Passion")
 * Kendra Young (assists them in the episodes "What's My Line, Part Two" and "Becoming, Part One", where she is murdered by Drusilla)

Season 3

 * Buffy Summers (from the episode "Dead Man's Party" after spending a few months in Los Angeles)
 * Xander Harris
 * Willow Rosenberg
 * Rupert Giles
 * Cordelia Chase (her relationship with the others is conflicted after she discovers Xander cheating on her in "Lovers Walk". After the season, she leaves town)
 * Angel (returns to the real world in "Faith, Hope & Trick", but his presence remains unknown to all but Buffy until "Revelations", although his relationship with the others remains strained until he leaves town after this season)
 * Daniel "Oz" Osbourne
 * Allies:
 * Faith Lehane (joins the group in "Faith, Hope & Trick" until she turns to the dark side and begins working for The Mayor in "Consequences". She is later put in a coma in "Graduation Day, Part Two")
 * Joyce Summers (who learned the truth about Buffy at the end of season two and whose home becomes a battleground in several episodes this season)
 * Wesley Wyndam-Pryce (from around the episode "Bad Girls" as Buffy's Watcher until Buffy quits the Watchers Council in "Graduation Day, Part One". Afterwards he assists Buffy on his own wanting to help and after the Mayor's ascension is prevented in "Graduation Day, Part Two", he leaves town)

Season 4

 * Buffy Summers
 * Xander Harris
 * Willow Rosenberg
 * Rupert Giles
 * Daniel "Oz" Osbourne (until he leaves town in "Wild at Heart")
 * Anya Jenkins (from around the episode "Pangs")
 * Riley Finn (from around the episode "New Moon Rising")
 * Allies:
 * Spike (reluctantly and unreliably from the episode "Pangs" until the episode "The Yoko Factor" when he is working for Adam)
 * Tara Maclay (from around the episode "Who Are You")

Season 5

 * Buffy Summers (until she dies at the end of "The Gift")
 * Xander Harris
 * Willow Rosenberg
 * Anya Jenkins
 * Rupert Giles
 * Tara Maclay (finally becoming a member of the inner circle after the Gang stands up to her father and brother in the episode "Family")
 * Riley Finn (until he leaves town in "Into the Woods")
 * Allies:
 * Spike (unreliable until the end of "Out of My Mind" when he realizes he is in love with Buffy. His relationship with the others remains strained and conflicted)
 * Dawn Summers (arguably from around the episode "Real Me" (Although the others 'remember' her being involved from the beginning, all memories prior to this point are fabricated))
 * Joyce Summers (until her death at the end of "I Was Made to Love You")

Season 6

 * Buffy Summers (from "After Life" onwards)
 * Xander Harris
 * Willow Rosenberg (until around the episode "Seeing Red")
 * Rupert Giles (until around the episode "Tabula Rasa")
 * Tara Maclay (until her death in "Seeing Red")
 * Dawn Summers
 * Anya Jenkins (until her relationship with Xander ends in "Hell's Bells" and she is restored to her vengeance demon status)
 * Spike (until he leaves for Africa in "Seeing Red". Again, his relationship with the others remains strained and conflicted)

Season 7

 * Buffy Summers
 * Xander Harris
 * Dawn Summers
 * Willow Rosenberg (rejoins the group in "Same Time, Same Place" after leaving to learn control of her new magics)
 * Anya Jenkins (from the episode "Selfless"- where she loses her vengeance demon powers- until she is killed in "Chosen")
 * Rupert Giles (from the episode "Bring on the Night", his relationship with Buffy is strained after "Lies My Parents Told Me")
 * Spike (his relationship with all except Buffy remains strained and conflicted even with his soul)
 * Faith Lehane (from the episode "Dirty Girls" and from the end of "Empty Places" to the middle of "End of Days" takes command after the disastrous raid on the vineyard)
 * Allies:
 * Robin Wood (from the episode "First Date")
 * Andrew Wells (from the episode "Never Leave Me")
 * The ever-increasing number of Potential Slayers (beginning with "Bring on the Night")

Season 8
At least initially, in Season Eight, the Scoobies are scattered across the world. In addition to the primary gang, there are short of 2000 Slayers, many of which work with the expanded organization in addition to witches, psychics and other staff. The core Scoobies now each act as important figures in the new Watcher's Council and maintain a role of leadership and authority amongst the Slayers they employ. With the group scattered, communication is maintained primarily through phone calls and the group leaders (in particular the core three) now assume more superheroic positions and parallels than in previous seasons. Former allies in Season 7 such as Andrew and Rona now lead squads of their own.


 * Buffy Summers (Scotland)
 * Xander Harris (Scotland)
 * Willow Rosenberg (Scotland)
 * Dawn Summers (Scotland)
 * Andrew Wells (Italy, reaffirmed a member of the Scooby Gang by Buffy in Predators and Prey)
 * Allies:
 * Rupert Giles (England, later on-the-road, relationship with Buffy remains strained and and even more conflicted since the events of "No Future for You")
 * Faith Lehane (Cleveland, later on-the-road, relationship with Buffy remains strained and conflicted)
 * Satsu (Scotland, later Tokyo)
 * Vi (New York)
 * Rona (Chicago)
 * Kennedy (Brazil, later New York)
 * Robin Wood (Cleveland)
 * Renee (Scotland, until she is killed in Wolves at the Gate)
 * Rowena (Scotland)
 * Leah (Scotland)

Headquarters
Along with variations in the team roster, the place which serves as a sort of "headquarters" for the Scooby Gang has also changed a few times over the series. The most notable of these headquarters, before its explosion in the Season Three finale, is the Sunnydale High School library. However, after the events of the series finale, the Scoobies have, as stated above, been spread across the world, with Buffy and Xander maintaining a "command center" in Scotland.

Seasons 1 - 3

 * Sunnydale High School library (until it exploded in "Graduation Day, Part Two")

Seasons 4 - 5

 * Rupert Giles's apartment (until Giles bought the Magic shop in "Real Me")

Seasons 5 - 6

 * The Magic Box (under the ownership of Giles in Season 5, and later Anya's ownership in Season 6, with Giles as a silent partner, destroyed by Dark Willow in "Grave")

Season 7

 * Summers' residence (until it is destroyed with the rest of Sunnydale in "Chosen")

Season 8

 * Scattered across the world with separate offices in different countries, all led by a command center in Scotland under Buffy and Xander. They are the core group of the Slayer Organization.