Whistler

"Bottom line is even if you see 'em coming, you're not ready for the big moments. No one asks for their life to change, not really. But it does. So what, are we helpless? Puppets? No. The big moments are gonna come, can't help that. It's what you do afterwards that counts. That's when you find out who you are.[...] You'll see what I mean"

- Whistler

Whistler was the alias taken by a demon with human form who, despite its origins, served The Powers That Be. He was portrayed by Max Perlich.

Biography
Whistler, whose real name was unpronounceable for a human as it consisted on a series of whistles, referred to his mission as "mantaining the balance between good and evil". In 1996, he was present in New York City, where he approached the vampire Angel. At the time, Angel was living on the streets, feeding on rats and refusing to come into contact with any human being, fearing to fall to his impulses and feed on one of them, as he had done in the 70's.

Whistler convinced Angel to join him on a trip to Los Angeles, where the two witnessed Buffy Summers being informed of her calling as the new Slayer, and later witnessing her first slaying. Whistler warned Angel that this new, unprepared Slayer would face serious danger. Having fallen in love with her, Angel asked Whistler to train him, to show him how to become someone to be counted on.

Two years later, Whistler, aware of the upcoming awakening of the demon Acathla, travelled to Sunnydale to seek out Angel, whom he believed was destined to stop the demon. He met Buffy at Rupert Giles' apartment, telling her he had not foreseen Angel losing his soul and she needed to be ready to do more than just fight if she wanted to stop the end of the world. Whistler's words proved true when Buffy was forced to send the re-ensouled Angel through Acathla's vortex in order to put the demon back to his eternal sleep.

Personality
Despite the important mission he performed for The Powers That Be, Whistler remained a down-to-earth individual. He was also prone to sarcasm and irony, for which people like Angel and Buffy found him somewhat annoying. However, despite his way of relating to people, he remained a wise figure ready to offer guidance, despite not being asked to.

Trivia

 * Whistler was originally planned to serve as a sidekick for Angel on the Buffy spinoff, Angel, but Joss Whedon cited schedule conflicts with Max Perlich's film career as the reason for replacing Whistler with Doyle, a similar character. Some fans contend that the "real" reason was a copyright issue with Marvel Comics, whose own character named Whistler is a sidekick to their heroic vampire, Blade.


 * Whistler was also planned to appear on the never-produced Ripper, a BTVS spin-off detailing the adventures of Giles in England.


 * Whistler is the first instance in the Buffyverse of a heroic demon.