Richard Wilkins

"I've made certain deals to get where I am today. This demon requires his tribute. You see, that's what separates me from other politicians, Mr. Trick... I keep my campaign promises."

- Richard Wilkins III

Richard Wilkins III was the Mayor of Sunnydale. A sorcerer bent on becoming a pure-breed demon, Wilkins had made a number of pacts with demons to obtain immortality as well as his power-base, though his public persona was that of a charismatic, conservative and pleasant family man.

Background


Wilkins arrived in California in the 1800s. He went on to found the town of Sunnydale, California in 1841 on the location of Boca del Infierno after the last Slayer, Naayéé'neizgháni, died there. Wilkins found the Hellmouth infested with demons, with whom he made a pact to avoid being killed himself.

He agreed to found a town on the Hellmouth where demons could freely feed on the inhabitants of the town. In his deals with demons (including Lurconis), he sold his soul and gained immortality. In 1899, he began planning his Ascension into the form of a pure demon called Olvikan that would take place in one hundred years.

Wilkins married Edna May in 1903. In time, she grew senile and cursed him for his youth, until dying of old age. It was not a happy time for the couple and Wilkins learned from experience what an immortal's relationship with a mortal would become.

Richard Wilkins III also happened to be Richard Wilkins Senior and Junior. He pretended to be his own son in each subsequent generation, in order to conceal his immortality.

Events Leading to the Ascension


Wilkins worked to ensure his transformation into an Old One, the pure-breed demon Olvikan. He had quite a pleasant demeanor. A family man with an aversion to swearing, he almost always wore a smile on his face and was obsessed with cleanliness. Filling the power vacuum left by the absence of Angelus, Spike, and Drusilla, Wilkins quickly assumed control and leadership over Sunnydale's vampire population. After sending his henchmen after Faith and Buffy, Faith left the life of a Slayer and offers him her services. He became a father figure to Faith; he even furnished her room, complete with a PlayStation, because he did not like to see her stay at a place with an "unsavory reputation." When he discovered that Buffy badly injured Faith, he lost his cheery demeanor and attempted to smother Buffy with his bare hands in the hospital, but was stopped by Angel.

After he achieved "Ascension" into the gigantic demon known as Olvikan during Sunnydale High's graduation ceremony (earlier than expected to his annoyance since he had not finished his speech), he ate Principal Snyder and battled the entire graduating class, who had come prepared for battle. The students fought the Mayor and his vampire lackeys to a standstill. The Mayor personally killed many students, including Larry Blaisdell. Buffy exploited his love for Faith by taunting him with the knife he had given to Faith and with which Buffy put Faith in a coma. Buffy lured Wilkins into the empty library, now filled with bags of dynamite, a trap also planned by the class. Rupert Giles pressed the trigger that obliterated the Mayor and the school building. Staying true to his avoidance of foul language, Wilkins' last words are "Well, gosh."

Wilkins left a videotape for Faith in case she ever woke up from her coma. When Buffy, Willow Rosenberg, Xander Harris, and Spike visited the ruins of the high school to prevent the Hellmouth from opening, Xander steps on his corpse and remarked, "Mayor meat, extra crispy". The First Evil used his likeness on occasion.

Spirit
Wilkins lived on as a ghost for a while, possessing the bodies of dead animals, demons, and vampires. In the process, he was responsible for the creation of Adam, when he possesses the corpse of a powerful demon (his earlier vampire body had been captured by the Initiative) and badly injured the then-human Adam. After a battle with Buffy in the clock tower, where Buffy finally learned of his inhuman nature after she decapitating his current body to no effect. Willow, with the assistance of Xander and Buffy, sent him to the next realm. Faith later told Angel in prison that she recalled the Mayor's ghost visiting her using the body of a dead bird while she was in her coma.

Powers and abilities
"You see, I'm what you might call "impervious." Can't be killed, or harmed, in any way."

- Mayor Wilkins to Angel

Before transforming into a demon, Wilkins was a powerful sorcerer who specialized in the dark arts. He had a cabinet full of shrunken heads, bones and supernatural paraphernalia. He became immortal and gained eternal youth thanks to demonic benefactors. After performing the dedication, he could not be harmed in any way for 100 days until the Ascension, and was able to heal from massive injuries immediately.

As the embodiment of the demon Olvikan, he possessed inhuman strength, endurance, and size, endowed with a thick, bone-armored hide, sharp teeth and mandibles, and a spiked tail-club.

Additionally, Wilkins possessed great political power. After the departure of the Order of Aurelius, and their successors, Angelus, Spike, and Drusilla, he filled the power vacuum left behind, allowing him to assume control of the majority of Sunnydale's vampire population.

Personality


Wilkins had quite a pleasant demeanor. A polite man with an aversion to swearing and bawdy humor, he nearly always wore a smile on his face. He called himself a "family man", though he claimed that he never had any children and his wife, Edna Mae, died resenting him for his youth. He loved The Family Circus, Tollhouse Cookies, and miniature golf, but he disliked Marmaduke, who seemed unsanitary to him. Despite his status as a demon, he was quite friendly. He had a close father-daughter relationship with Faith, and seemed genuinely distraught when she went into a coma. Wilkins' most notable trait was his obsessive hygiene.

However, it was this same parental love for Faith that allowed his darker side to show. When Buffy managed to critically hurt her, Wilkins, in a fit of grief and rage, almost smothered Buffy to death in the hospital (until Angel stopped him, and he tells Angel that "misery loves company" and then refers to Buffy as Angel's "whore" - a break in his normally clean language that showed the depth of his distress). Buffy was able to bait Wilkins after Ascension into following her by taunting him with the custom knife he had given to Faith as a present, which Buffy had taken and still was smeared with Faith's blood.

Wilkins displays the flag of the United States on the viewer's right. This is incorrect; the flag is supposed to be displayed on "its own right," which is to say the viewer's left.

Behind the Scenes

 * Despite only making an appearance starting Season 3, the Mayor has been referenced several times in earlier seasons.
 * He was the first Big Bad of Buffy that was not a vampire.
 * He was portrayed by Harry Groener and by Chris Mezzolestaref in the Buffy Season Eight Motion Comics.


 * Richard Wilkins, along with The Anointed One, was one of the few Big Bads with whom Buffy did not physically fight.


 * In a deleted scene of the series premiere of Firefly, it is learned that the Alliance troops who advanced on the Independents in Serenity Valley were led by General Richard Wilkins. The characters are not related, as Firefly is not part of Whedon's Buffyverse.


 * Harry Groener later guest-starred with Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia Chase), Brian Thompson (Luke/The Judge), Christopher Wiehl (Owen Thurman), Armin Shimerman (Principal Snyder), Greg Vaughan (Richard Anderson), Julia Lee (Anne Steele), Lorna Scott (Ms. Beakman), Jeremy Roberts (Kakistos), Mariah O'Brien (Nancy), Jeff Kober (Zachary Kralik/Rack), Channon Roe (Jack O'Toole), Eric Matheny (Colm), Bailey Chase (Graham Miller), Alastair Duncan (Collins), Jeff Ricketts (Weatherby), Charlie Weber (Ben Wilkinson), Amy Adams (Beth Maclay), Brigid Brannagh (Virginia Bryce), Kevin Weisman (Dreg), Daniel Dae Kim (Gavin Park), Leland Crooke (Lillian/Sebassis), Keith Szarabajka (Daniel Holtz), Ron Melendez (James), David J.Miller (Rat-faced Demon), Andrew Reville (Timothy Blane), Ivana Milicevic (Samantha Finn), Alex Breckenridge (Kit Holburn) on Charmed.


 * Harry Groener later starred with Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia Chase), Julie Benz (Darla), Mercedes McNab (Harmony Kendall), James Marsters (Spike),Jack Plotnick (Allan Finch), Amber Benson (Tara Maclay), Amy Acker (Winifred Burkle/Illyria), John Rubinstein (Linwood Murrow), Felicia Day (Violet), Chad Lindberg (David Kirby), Jack Conley (Gib Cain/Sahjhan), Jeff Kober (Zachary Kralik/Rack), Aldis Hodge (Masked Teen), Rob Benedict (Jape), Todd Stashwick (M'Fashnik Demon), Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Sam Ryan), Megalyn Echikunwoke (Vaughne) and Ridge Canipe (Tommy) on Supernatural.


 * Harry Groener later guest-starred on How I Met Your Mother with Alyson Hannigan (Willow Rosenberg) . This show include also many guest-stars of Buffyverse like Seth Green (Oz), Danny Strong (Jonathan Levinson), Danielle Weeks (Debbie Foley), Alexis Denisof (Wesley Wyndam-Pryce), Kal Penn (Hunt/Brain man), Tom Lenk (Cyrus/Andrew Wells) and Amy Acker (Winifred Burkle/Illyria).


 * Harry Groener later guest-starred on Bones with David Boreanaz (Angel) and T.J. Thyne (a lawyer in fifth season of Angel). This show include also many actors of Buffyverse like Clea DuVall (Marcie Ross), Brent Jennings (Absalom), Gregory Scott Cummins (Big Ugly), Bianca Lawson (Kendra Young), Edward Edwards (Travis), Channon Roe (Jack O'Toole), Michael Cudltiz (Big Bob), Andy Umberger (D'Hoffryn/Ronald Meltzer), Tracy Middendorf (Tina), Michael Mantell (Oliver Simon), Beth Grant (Maude Pearson), Leonard Roberts (Forrest Gates), Colby French (Tay), Justina Machado (Jo), Melissa Marsala (Judy Kovacs), Edwin Hodge (Keenan), Kali Rocha (Halfrek), Mik Scriba (Sam), Tom McCleister (Lorne's mother), Kate Norby (Elisabeth), David Denman (Skip), Kristoffer Polaha (Dylan Blim), Jim Ortlieb (the translator in Lullaby), Mark Harellik (Kurskov), Clayton Rohner (Lee DeMarco), Azura Skye (Cassie Newton), Randy Oglesby (Oliver Seidel), Jack Kehler (Manjet), Joel David Moore (Karl), K.D. Aubert (Nikki Wood), Gina Torres (Jasmine), Bonita Friedericy (Patience), Patrick Fischler (Ted), Danny Woodburn (Finger eating demon), Rod Rowland (Corbin Fries), Ryan Alvarez (Pee Pee demon) and Adam Baldwin (Marcus Hamilton).


 * Harry Groener later starred with Eion Bailey (Kyle DuFours), Emma Caulfield (Anya Jenkins), Amy Acker (Winifred Burkle/Illyria) on Once Upon A Time.

Angel

 * "The Girl in Question"


 * No Future for You
 * Daddy Issues, Part Three
 * Daddy Issues, Part Four
 * Tales of the Slayers: The Glittering World
 * Haunted