Riley Finn

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

The Initiative
A native of Huxley, Iowa, Riley was Buffy Summers' boyfriend for part of her freshman and sophomore years in college. Leading a double life as part of a secret government organization known as The Initiative, but also as a regular college guy, Buffy found some normality in Riley, but she also found someone to whom she could relate. Initially, each kept the other from knowing of the secret lives, but the truth came out when monsters called The Gentlemen stole everyone's voices.

Buffy and Riley fought demons together and continued saving each other's lives and the world, although Riley was never quite let into Buffy's inner circle. Originally, Riley was heavily prejudiced against all demons, but he 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 had created a cybernetically-augmented human-demon hybrid named 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. 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. 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.

Reckless
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. 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.

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, which Buffy discovered with Spike's help. 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
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, having recently gotten married to a fellow demon hunter named Sam. 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.

Double Agent
Several years later, Riley joined Twilight's followers, and was marked with Twilight's symbol on the chest. After meeting with Buffy in New York City, he convinced her that he was a double agent and her "inside man" in taking Twilight out. Weeks later, he joined Amy, Warren and Twilight as they tried to track down the Slayer Organization. His allegiance appeared uncertain, however, as he tried to persuade Twilight that the magic detected in Tibet by Oz's monastery was not a genuine reading. During a massive battle between Twilight's forces and the Slayer Organization, Buffy saves an injured Riley and reveals 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 was seen comforting Buffy, who saw herself as a terrible leader by leading the Slayer Organization into the war against Twilight.

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. ("Out of My Mind")

Behind the Scenes

 * He was portrayed by Marc Blucas.


 * 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.