Rupert Giles


 * For the Wishverse version of the character, see Rupert Giles (Wishverse); for the family surname, see Giles family

Rupert Edmund Giles was the former librarian of Sunnydale High School, the occult expert of the Scooby Gang, and the Watcher and surrogate father figure of Buffy Summers. He was portrayed by Anthony Stewart Head.

Early life
"Giles at sixteen? Less 'Together Guy', more 'Bad-Magic-Hates-the-World-Ticking-Time-Bomb Guy.'"

- Buffy, summarizing Giles' rebellious youth



Rupert Giles was born in 1954 into an upper-class family in London, England. His family has worked within the Council of Watchers for at least three generations; both his father and grandmother, Edna Giles, were also Watchers. Although as a child Giles dreamed of being either "a fighter pilot or a green-grocer", being a Watcher is a calling, much as being a Slayer is, and Rupert's father explained his destiny to him when he was ten years old (revealed in "Never Kill a Boy on the First Date").

In 1975 Rupert was a rebellious youth, rejecting his responsibility as a Watcher and dropping out of his history degree at Oxford University when he was twenty-one. He delved into dark magics and befriended a group of young people who delved into the dark arts for fun or money: Ethan Rayne, Philip Henry, Dierdre Page, Thomas Sutcliffe, and Randall. Together, they summoned a particularly grotesque demon called Eyghon, who would eventually murder Randall and hunt down and kill Dierdre Page, Phillip Henry and Thomas Sutcliffe and eventually hunt down Ethan and Giles as well. Rupert gained the nickname "Ripper" during this time.

During this time, Ripper employed tales of demons and dark magics, and also claimed to be a founding member of Pink Floyd in order to impress girls, although he later admitted this was untrue. It is also possible that he delved into criminal activity, primarily stealing cars, but most likely for joyriding ("Like riding a bloody bicycle," he says as he hot wires his car in the episode "Dead Man's Party"). Following the death of Randall, Ethan and the others failed to exorcise Eyghon, and Rupert accepted his destiny of becoming a Watcher in 1980. Before becoming a fully-fledged Watcher, Rupert also worked as "the curator of a British museum, maybe the British Museum" as Willow says ("Welcome to the Hellmouth"). According to the comic Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Giles, his mentor in the Watcher's Council was Archibald "Archie" Lassiter.

School librarian


At the behest of the Watchers' Council, Giles travels to Sunnydale, California, and works as the librarian at the local high school. There he meets the current Slayer, Buffy Summers, whom he begins training. The library, a sort of command center for the gang, sits right above the Hellmouth. He is a father figure to Buffy and an advisor to her friends Xander Harris and Willow Rosenberg, together forming the "core four" of the Scooby Gang. He also shares an attraction with computer science teacher Jenny Calendar, and develops a friendship with Angel, a vampire with a soul sent to aid Buffy, who shares a mutual attraction with him. While researching the Master, Giles and Angel discover a prophecy in the Pergamum Codex that states that Buffy would face the Master and be killed by him. When Buffy learns of this, she decides to quit being the Slayer altogether; thus, Giles, realizing that he has spent too much time in his books, decides to fight the Master in her place. However, Buffy ultimately accepts her fate, and knocks Giles out with a single punch when he attempts to intervene. Subsequently, a demon known as the Hellmouth Spawn emerges from the floor and attacks Giles, Willow, Cordelia, and Jenny, but they are saved when Buffy kills the Master.

When Buffy returns, Giles' constant pressuring her to hold to her Slayer duties leads to her directly disobeying him and attending a party at the Delta Zeta Kappa fraternity, where she and Cordelia are nearly sacrificed to the demon Machida. After being scolded by Willow, Giles assists in saving Buffy and decides to stop pushing Buffy so hard ("Reptile Boy"). When Ethan Rayne comes to Sunnydale to flee the demon Ehygon, Giles shamefully admits to Buffy that he was responsible for summoning the demon in his youth, and is horrified when Jenny becomes possessed by Ehygon. Although Ehygon is defeated, Jenny takes time to cope with her ordeal, retaining distance from Giles in the process. Giles feels betrayed when Jenny reveals she is actually a member of the Kalderash gypsy clan, sent to keep an eye on Buffy's relationship with the vampire Angel. When Angel loses his soul and murders Jenny, leaving her corpse for Giles to find in his apartment ("Passion"), Giles seeks revenge by burning down Angel's home. Angel later kidnaps and tortures him, and Drusilla hypnotizes him into thinking she is Jenny, so he will reveal how to awake Acathla. Buffy is forced to kill the evil Angel, and subsequently leaves Sunnydale an emotional wreck.



Giles spends the summer desperately following up any clues of Buffy's whereabouts, and is overjoyed when she finally returns months later. Giles briefly serves as Watcher for new Slayer, Faith Lehane. The Scoobies are given another disturbing glimpse in Giles' past when, along with every other adult in Sunnydale, he is reverted to a teenager by enchanted band candy supplied by Ethan Rayne. During this time, he indulges in theft and vandalism, and has sex with Buffy's mother Joyce Summers. Despite that, he aids Buffy in rescuing babies from Lurconis, somehow remembering a snipit of information his older self knew about the demon. When Buffy keeps Angel's return from hell a secret from the other Scoobies, Giles feels betrayed by her affection for the man who tortured him and murdered Jenny, but later agrees to help Angel in "Amends."

As Buffy's Cruciamentum, a brutal tradition of the Watchers' Council in which a depowered Slayer is forced to battle a vampire, approaches, Giles struggles to cope with the guilt of betraying Buffy's trust. Despite describing the test as "an archaic exercise in cruelty", he secretly injects Buffy with numerous adrenal suppressors and muscle relaxants, which weaken her significantly, before eventually coming clean when the vampire she is meant to fight escapes. Buffy is disgusted and heartbroken, but is later moved when Giles interferes in her Cruciamentum to save her life, staking her foe's minion Blair after Buffy managed to best her foe Zachary Kralik through a trick and Holy Water. Because of this, and having a father's love for Buffy which Head Watcher Quentin Travers describes as "useless to the cause", Giles is fired and replaced with Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, but continues to act as Buffy's unofficial Watcher, especially since Wesley turns out to be extremely cowardly and incompetent. When Buffy briefly finds herself endowed with telepathic powers, she discovers that her mother believes Giles to be "like a stevedore in bed." In a battle with the demonic Mayor of Sunnydale, Giles presses the trigger which destroys Sunnydale High, putting himself out of a job.

Unemployment
As Giles learns to cope with being unemployed, and the growing knowledge that Buffy no longer needs him, he resumes a sexual relationship with his old friend Olivia, who Anya tactlessly labels his "orgasm friend." Lacking a sense of purpose, he spends most of his time lounging around his apartment, watching Passions with Spike. He begins to suffer from depression, especially when the Scoobies fail to keep him in the loop regarding Buffy's new boyfriend Riley Finn and his affiliation to The Initiative. When Ethan Rayne casts a spell on Giles which turns him into a Fyarl demon ("A New Man"), he must enlist Spike's help to escape the Initiative and Buffy, who believe him to be demon who murdered Giles. However, Buffy later realizes from his eyes and "annoyed" expression that he is in fact Giles, and Ethan is taken into custody by the Initiative. In order to defeat the cyber-demonoid Adam, the four Scoobies cast a spell to combine their strength. Giles provides the "mind", and Buffy is able to defeat Adam.

In "Buffy vs. Dracula", Giles, no longer seeing his place in Sunnydale, decided to return to England, telling no one except Willow, whom he needed to organize the research documents for the Scoobies. However, after an encounter with the legendary Count Dracula, Buffy confessed to Giles that she still needed him, both emotionally and in order to find out more about what being the Slayer means, and asked him to be her Watcher again. Clearly pleased by this turn of events, Giles decided that he still had a place in Sunnydale after all.

Owner of the Magic Box
When the owner of the Magic Box is killed by vampires, Giles is convinced by the shop's high profit margins to buy it, hiring Anya as his overtly enthusiastic assistant. Buffy discovers that her sister, Dawn Summers, is actually the Key; mystical energy in human form to protect it from the hell-god Glory. Buffy initially confides only in Giles about Dawn's true nature, and he decides to contact the Watchers' Council for more information about Glory. Quentin Travers blackmails Buffy into obeying the Council's demands, threatening to have Giles deported if she does not comply. Buffy stands up to the Council, informing them that they will release all information concerning Glory to them, and will re-instate Giles as her official Watcher, to be paid retroactively from the month he was fired. Travers reluctantly agrees, and leaves. As the Scoobies labor to find a way to defeat Glory, Giles brings up the difficult idea of killing Dawn to end her plans. Buffy refuses to listen, and vows to protect Dawn at all costs, much to Giles' anger. Giles admits that he loves Dawn, but that sacrifices have to be made. It is revealed that Glory shares her body with an innocent human male called Ben Wilkinson, and can be killed if Ben dies. In the final battle against Glory, Buffy decides to spare Ben's life, but Giles is less merciful. Explaining that Buffy is a hero and therefore different from them, he suffocates Ben with his bare hands ("The Gift".) Buffy later sacrifices her own life to save Dawn's, saving the world in the process.

Return to England


Several months after her death, Giles decides to return to England. On the very day he leaves, Willow, Xander, Anya and Tara resurrect Buffy, and he comes back as soon as he hears of this. Despite being overjoyed to have Buffy back, he is furious at Willow for invoking such dark magic, and angrily dismisses her as "a rank, arrogant amateur"; while the other Scoobies believe that Buffy may have been in hell, Giles is unconvinced, which later proves to be correct when a demon's musical spell forces her to reveal that she was indeed in Heaven. Buffy begins to over-rely on Giles for financial and emotional support; at one point, when Dawn sneaks out to hang out with a teenager who was in fact a vampire, Buffy refuses to scold her herself and leaves the job to Giles. This eventually causes Giles to decide that his presence is preventing her assuming responsibility for her own life. He leaves again for his native England, moving to a place near Bath, where he works with a powerful local coven.

A few months later, Tara is killed by a stray bullet as Warren Mears attacks Buffy. Willow, still recovering from an addiction to dark magic, suffers a relapse, kills Warren, and attempts to kill his former partners in crime, before resolving to end humanity's pain (and her own) by destroying the world. Hearing about a dark power rising in Sunnydale, Giles teleports back there, wielding great magical power borrowed from the Devon Coven. As Dark Willow boasts of her indestructibility, Giles knocks her to the floor with a blast of magic energy, stating "I'd like to test that theory" ("Two to Go"). Upon discovering all that had gone wrong in his absence, Giles apologized to Buffy, insisting that he never should have abandoned them, but Buffy reassured him that he did the right thing. Knowing that Willow is too strong, he tricks her into draining him of his magics, which bring him near death. It also allows Xander to reason with Willow as the good magic brings out her natural love and compassion, eating away at the evil within her.

Giles returns to England with Willow for her rehabilitation. A few months later, he brings Potential Slayers to Sunnydale to protect them from The First Evil and its Bringers. Giles had removed a few volumes from the headquarters of the Watchers' Council, which is soon afterward destroyed by Caleb, an agent of the First. An injured Watcher named Robson witnessed Giles about to be decapitated by a Bringer, before blacking out. When the Scoobies hear about this, they worry that Giles may have been killed, and that the First is merely impersonating him. They are relieved, however, when they manage to tackle him to the ground, proving he is corporeal and therefore not the First. It turns out that Giles heard the Bringer aproaching and decapitated it before it could kill him. Giles later loses Buffy's trust somewhat when he takes part in a scheme with Robin Wood to kill Spike ("Lies My Parents Told Me"), with Buffy telling him, "I've think you've taught me everything I need to know." Ironically, Giles proves to be correct in his beliefs that Buffy kept Spike around for personal reasons rather than tactical ones. Giles participates in the final battle at the Hellmouth, and survives.

Prophecies and conspiracies
In season five of Angel, Angel contacts Giles via phone twice. It is established that after the First's plan is foiled by the destruction of the Hellmouth and of Sunnydale, Giles travels to Europe with Buffy to rebuild the Watchers' Council and train new Slayers. He also takes Andrew Wells under his wing, training him to be a Watcher. In "Damage", Andrew claims to be "faster, stronger and 82% more manly" as a result of Giles' mentoring. Later in "A Hole in the World", after Fred dies, Angel phones Giles, desperate to get in contact with Willow, who cannot be located. After Angel confirms that he still works for Wolfram & Hart, Giles coldly hangs up on him.

Following Sunnydale's destruction, the Scooby Gang had expanded into a global organization, training approximately five hundred Slayers spread over ten squads. Giles was one of the heads of the Slayer Organization in England and St. Petersburg, Russia, parallel with Andrew's operations in Italy and Buffy and Xander's in Scotland.

He came to Faith to request her assistance assassinating another Slayer, Genevieve Savidge, who would supposedly bring around the Apocalypse if left unchecked, though her plan was to assassinate Buffy. After killing "Gigi" and her mentor Roden, they break away from the Slayer Organization and decide to work together as equal partners, keeping Slayers from turning down the dark path both Faith and Gigi walked. Because of his partnership with Faith, Buffy and Giles fell out of speaking terms.

In the story "Safe," Giles and Faith hear of a "Slayer Sanctuary" in a town called Hanselstadt from a young Slayer named Courtney. There, Giles encounters Duncan Fillworthe, a former Watcher, who claims vampires do not dare to enter the town because they know the town contains an army of Slayers. Later, as Giles argues a stalemate is not a solution to the vampire problem, Duncan reveals that in fact the town is feeding the Slayers who come seeking sanctuary to an ancient demon. The fear of the demon is what really keeps the vampires from entering. Giles goes to warn Faith as Duncan states this is the fate that Slayers deserve for rejecting the Watchers Council, especially Buffy, reminding Giles that Buffy's relationship with Angel resulted in Jenny Calendar's death. Giles finds Faith already in combat with the demon, which feeds on beings who feel regret and fear. While trying to free Courtney from the demon, Duncan intercepts Giles. During their skirmish, the demon devours Duncan and Giles saves Courtney while Faith kills the demon. The stalemate ended, Giles and Faith rally the reluctant townspeople against the coming vampires, telling them if they want to live, they'll have to fight.

After Harmony Kendall's reality show establishes a new pro-vampire, anti-Slayer world order, Faith and Giles are in hiding in the Führerbunker. Once their underground hideout is compromised by demons, they retreat to Scotland to reunite with Buffy. Giles and Buffy are driven to reconcile by Twilight's attacks. The entire group are later transported to Oz in Tibet to learn how to suppress magic to stop Twilight tracking them.

Shortly afterward, it is revealed that Giles has been searching for something. One of the reasons he has been travelling around the world, is to search for the Slayer who would be given enormous power, and would create a new world. Believing it to be a Watcher myth, it is implied, that Giles knew all along that Buffy was the Slayer in question, and had in fact been searching for the only weapon that could kill Buffy should she have reached this godhood.

Death
During the battle of Sunnydale Giles attempted to destroy the Seed using the Scythe, but Angel (possessed by Twilight) broke his neck, killing him instantly.



Personality
As the Watcher, librarian, and general authority/father figure, Giles often delivers exposition. Giles is often portrayed as somewhat of a "straight man" and his "stuffy" Oxford sensibility serves as counterpoint to the stereotypical Southern Californian characters and setting. According to Willow, he makes a "weird cluck-cluck sound with his tongue" when he is angry but is "too English to say anything" ("Faith, Hope & Trick"). Giles is well-known for wearing tweed clothes, so much so that the Scoobies joke that even his diapers were made from the material. However, he wears non-tweed suits and even casual clothes more often after his retirement from the library. A good deal of the show's humor, especially in the middle seasons, comes from Giles contradicting his established prim and proper image. Giles (like Head in real life) is also a talented singer and guitar player, which the gang discovered to their horror in the episode "Where the Wild Things Are". He also loves Halloween, which Buffy was surprised to learn in "Fear Itself".

He was not what one would call technology-savvy, and is even somewhat technophobic by his own admission, a fact which often brings him into conflict with technopagan and computer science teacher, Jenny Calendar. However, after Jenny aids him in casting the demon Moloch out of the Internet, the pair reach an understanding and begin a romantic relationship. However, he never overcomes his aversion to technology and, in Season 7, is horrified to see that the new Sunnydale High School library has only computers.

Very few people called Giles by his first name, Rupert, including the Scoobies. Willow calls him "Rupert" while she has turned evil, and Spike does so disdainfully while criticizing him, the Scoobies, and the Potentials for turning on Buffy. He's called by his gruesome nickname, Ripper, by Ethan Rayne and again by Joyce Summers, when they are both under a spell that made them like teenagers.

Although seen early on as purely present to deliver information, Giles develops a very close almost father-daughter relationship with Buffy, who lacks a father figure because of her own father never being around for her. One thing that definitely separates Giles from most Watchers is his compassion. While most Watchers are completely ruthless and fanatically devoted to their mission to the extent that they are perfectly willing to sacrifice innocent people and perform unethical deeds, Giles truly does care for Buffy and her friends to the extent that he defied the rules of the Cruciamentum to save Buffy's life.

His personality also becomes darker over the years with insights into his past actions. The episode Band Candy shows him reverting to his teenage personality of "Ripper," a violent criminal. He was also shown to have meddled in dark magics which got a friend of his killed. He was not above using violence to solve problems, such as coercing Principal Snyder to get Buffy readmitted to school and even murdering Ben to prevent Glory from returning, saying that Buffy was a hero and wouldn't do it.

Powers and abilities
Giles had immense knowledge of demonology and Slayer combat (including at least a theoretical knowledge of jujutsu and aikido, but excelling at the art of fencing), mainly due to his training as a Watcher. While he had no true supernatural powers of his own, his extensive experience in dealing with vampires, demons, and other creatures makes him capable of handling them effectively. His youthful interest in witchcraft and sorcery had endured into his adult life, though his natural aptitude for it is only moderate (much less than that of Willow or Amy). Giles is proficient in several languages, including Latin, ancient Greek, Sumerian (see the episode "Primeval"), Japanese ("Checkpoint"), and possibly Gaelic ("Fear, Itself"), but weak in German ("Gingerbread"), Mandarin, and Cantonese ("First Date").

Giles had moderate skill in hand-to-hand combat, as well as various melee weapons. He also implied that he is a skilled marksman in "No Future For You". While his demeanor is typically mild and polite, Giles was not above using raw violence to solve a problem, such as physically threatening Principal Snyder into readmitting Buffy to school after her expulsion ("Dead Man's Party"), pummeling Angelus senseless with a flaming baseball bat and burning down his hideout upon discovering that he had killed Jenny Calendar ("Passion"), smothering Ben to death with his bare hands to prevent Glory's return when Buffy chooses to spare him ("The Gift"), brutally beating Ethan Rayne for information ("Halloween") or simply to improve his mood ("A New Man"), manhandling Spike while ordering him to get over his obsession with Buffy ("I Was Made to Love You"), and forcing Glory's minion, Slook, to talk by inflicting a painful-sounding injury offscreen ("Tough Love"). Typically however, Giles' calm demeanor and professionalism offered him a detached state of authority even in the face of fearsome monsters, as demonstrated during his confrontation with a violent demon in "The Long Way Home". He was also shown to be able to quickly hotwire a car in "Dead Man's Party".

In "Grave", Giles was granted with the powers of the Devon Coven in an attempt to stop Willow. During this time, he demonstrated powers such as teleportation, telekinesis, and energy projection. He lost all of these powers when Willow drained him and left him on the brink of death, but he recovered immediately after Xander calms her down from her rampage. His moderate proficiency in magic combined with his natural acumen and intelligence made him quite formidable; in "No Future for You", he kills the warlock Roden, who could fly and conjure easily, through using a spell inventively.

Romantic

 * Jenny Calendar — A computer science teacher at Sunnydale High, Jenny was a techno-pagan. Giles saw her at first as a symbol of the encroachment of sterile technology into the organic world of books, but they grew closer after cooperating to defeat the demon Moloch in the episode "I, Robot... You, Jane." When Angel lost his soul in the second season, Jenny was found to be part of the Gypsy clan who had cursed him with a human soul in 1898. She had been sent to Sunnydale to keep an eye on him, not knowing about the loophole in the curse that cost Angel his soul. Angry at not being told the truth, Giles initially joined Buffy in ostracizing Jenny. They eventually reconciled, but Jenny was soon murdered by Angelus in the episode "Passion," devastating Giles.


 * Joyce Summers — As Sunnydale's adult population came under the influence of magical chocolate in the episode "Band Candy," Giles reverted to his rebellious teenage persona, Ripper. He got intimate with Joyce Summers twice, including once on the hood of a police car. They were too embarrassed afterwards to be romantically involved again.


 * Olivia — Whilst unemployed during Season Four, Giles saw this "old friend," a black English woman with whom he seemed to share a casual, albeit sexual, on-again off-again relationship. Olivia seemingly met him during his Ripper era, the 1970s, as he had once claimed to her that he had been a founding member of Pink Floyd, as well as being into the occult. She was last seen in reality in the episode "Hush ." Olivia is seen once more in a dream state in the episode "Restless," in which she appears pregnant as she and Giles take Buffy to the "demon carnival."


 * Anya Jenkins — When the gang lost their memories because of a spell Willow performed in the episode "Tabula Rasa," evidence led Giles and Anya to believe that they were engaged. They shared a kiss while amnesiac, ironically seconds before the spell wore off; they were so embarrassed afterwards that they never mentioned it again.

Paternal
The episode "Grave" makes reference to Giles' parental role in the lives of Buffy, Willow and Anya. After Giles comes to stop the havoc Dark Willow is wreaking and Buffy and Anya call his name in surprise, Willow snidely remarks "Uh-oh, daddy's home! I'm in wicked trouble now."


 * Buffy Summers — Buffy and Giles formed a close bond over the years. Giles had become the father figure Buffy always wanted (since her real father was never there for her), and Buffy became the daughter Giles never had. This is first referenced in "Helpless" when Buffy tries to convince Giles to take her to an ice show in the place of her father, who is busy with work. At the end of the same episode, Quentin Travers fires Giles from his job as Watcher because he had developed a "father's love" for Buffy. In Restless, Giles dreams about himself, Olivia, and Buffy in a sort of family unit. In a rare explicit reference to this aspect of their relationship, in the episode "Once More, with Feeling ," Giles sings, "Wish I could play the father, and take you by the hand," in reference to Buffy.


 * Willow Rosenberg — Since she first asked Giles, "What can I do?" and he responded, "You can help me", Willow has proven to be an invaluable assistant in the fight against evil for both Giles and Buffy. The most recent indication of their relationship featured Giles' assisting Willow after her brief time as Dark Willow, helping her overcome her dark side so she could again assist her friends. Willow once mentioned that she had had a crush on him early on, but obviously nothing came of that. Normally, Giles treats Willow like a little sister, more than a daughter, like Buffy and Anya.


 * Anya Jenkins — Anya looked up to him as a keen business man and as her boss, and he treated her like a daughter, albeit a strange one.

Other

 * Angel — At first, Giles regards Angel with an even temper (even commenting that his relationship with Buffy was "rather poetic...in a maudlin sort of way"), regarding Angel almost as a peer, sharing books and prophecies with him. But when Angel became Angelus and murdered Jenny, Giles, devastated to the point of irrationality, set fire to the vampire's warehouse lair and attacked him with a flaming baseball bat, severely beating him before being disarmed by Angelus and rescued by Buffy. When he later needed information, Angelus kidnapped and tortured Giles. After Angel returned from Hell, Giles was upset and wary. He kept a loaded crossbow in hand when talking to Angel in the episode "Amends," yet he also attempted to help Angel with his hallucinations. Giles and Angel come together again in the episode "Pangs," by which time he seems to have lost some of his anger towards Angel, even suggesting that it would be less cruel if Buffy were allowed to see him. When he starts to work for Wolfram & Hart, Angel calls on Giles for help twice. The first time, when the insane Slayer Dana is on the loose, Giles sends Andrew Wells. The second time, when Angel and his crew need help to cure Fred of the infection that becomes Illyria, Giles tells them Willow is unavailable. Both times there are indications that because of Angel's association with the evil law firm, Giles, like the other Scoobies, no longer trusts him.


 * Ethan Rayne — Giles and Ethan used to be best friends, but by the time the series begins, they are mortal enemies, since Giles beats up Ethan for information and later just to improve his mood. Yet they also end up getting drunk and reminiscing together. Writer of Ethan/Giles episode "A New Man", Jane Espenson opines that Giles and Ethan may have had some sexual history in their younger days.

Behind the scenes

 * Giles was a fan of 60s rock band Cream. He owns their LP Disraeli Gears, and plays it for Joyce in "Band Candy" (specifically, the song "Tales of Brave Ulysses"). He later listens to the song again in "Forever" after Joyce's funeral.


 * Giles also appeared to be a fan of The Who and Lynyrd Skynyrd. In "Where the Wild Things Are," he performs an acoustic version of The Who's "Behind Blue Eyes" at a coffee shop, and in "The Yoko Factor," he performs an acoustic version of Skynyrd's "Free Bird" at his house. He was also a fan of The Velvet Underground and The Bay City Rollers. Oz has commented on his impressive record collection.


 * In "Band Candy" when Giles is magically transformed to his teenage personality, the accent he uses is Anthony Head's natural accent.


 * Shortly after Buffy ended its seven year televised run, there was talk of a Giles-based spin-off series for the BBC entitled Ripper. As of Comicon 2007, Joss Whedon confirmed that Ripper was still planned and in the pipeline.


 * Originally, Giles was set to appear in "A Hole in the World" as the one whom Angel and Spike approached in an attempt to save Fred, because Whedon needed a character who would be instantly believed (by the characters and by the audience) when he said that there was no way to save Fred. As it was too expensive for Anthony Stewart Head to fly out to Los Angeles to guest-star, Whedon created Drogyn the Battlebrand, who was mystically compelled to tell the truth no matter what.

Appearances
Giles was a series regular on Buffy for the first five seasons (1997-2001). He disappeared from the opening credits but made guest appearances in Season Six and Seven. {{Scroll box
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Buffy Season 1

 * "Welcome to the Hellmouth"
 * "The Harvest"
 * "Witch"
 * "Teacher's Pet"
 * "Never Kill a Boy on the First Date"
 * "The Pack"
 * "Angel"
 * "I Robot, You Jane"
 * "The Puppet Show"
 * "Nightmares"
 * "Out of Mind, Out of Sight"
 * "Prophecy Girl"

Buffy Season 2

 * "When She Was Bad"
 * "Some Assembly Required"
 * "School Hard"
 * "Inca Mummy Girl"
 * "Reptile Boy"
 * "Halloween"
 * "Lie to Me"
 * "The Dark Age"
 * "What's My Line, Part One"
 * "What's My Line, Part Two"
 * "Ted"
 * "Bad Eggs"
 * "Surprise"
 * "Innocence"
 * "Phases"
 * "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered"
 * "Passion"
 * "Killed by Death"
 * "I Only Have Eyes for You"
 * "Go Fish"
 * "Becoming, Part One"
 * "Becoming, Part Two"

Buffy Season 3

 * "Anne"
 * "Dead Man's Party"
 * "Faith, Hope & Trick"
 * "Beauty and the Beasts"
 * "Homecoming"
 * "Band Candy"
 * "Revelations"
 * "Lovers Walk"
 * "The Wish"
 * "Amends"
 * "Gingerbread"
 * "Helpless"
 * "The Zeppo"
 * "Bad Girls"
 * "Consequences"
 * "Doppelgängland"
 * "Enemies"
 * "Earshot"
 * "Choices"
 * "The Prom"
 * "Graduation Day, Part One"
 * "Graduation Day, Part Two"

Buffy Season 4

 * "The Freshman"
 * "Living Conditions"
 * "The Harsh Light of Day"
 * "Fear, Itself"
 * "Beer Bad"
 * "Wild at Heart"
 * "The Initiative"
 * "Pangs"
 * "Something Blue"
 * "Hush"
 * "Doomed"
 * "A New Man"
 * "The I in Team"
 * "Goodbye Iowa"
 * "This Year's Girl"
 * "Who Are You"
 * "Superstar"
 * "Where the Wild Things Are"
 * "New Moon Rising"
 * "The Yoko Factor"
 * "Primeval"
 * "Restless"

Buffy Season 5

 * "Buffy vs. Dracula"
 * "Real Me"
 * "The Replacement"
 * "Out of My Mind"
 * "No Place Like Home"
 * "Family"
 * "Fool for Love"
 * "Shadow"
 * "Listening to Fear"
 * "Into the Woods"
 * "Triangle"
 * "Checkpoint"
 * "Blood Ties"
 * "Crush"
 * "I Was Made to Love You"
 * "The Body"
 * "Forever"
 * "Intervention"
 * "Tough Love"
 * "Spiral"
 * "The Weight of the World"
 * "The Gift"

Buffy Season 6

 * "Bargaining, Part One"
 * "Flooded"
 * "Life Serial"
 * "All the Way"
 * "Once More, With Feeling"
 * "Tabula Rasa"
 * "Two to Go"
 * "Grave"

Buffy Season 7

 * "Lessons"
 * "Beneath You"
 * "Sleeper"
 * "Bring on the Night"
 * "Showtime"
 * "The Killer in Me"
 * "First Date"
 * "Lies My Parents Told Me"
 * "Dirty Girls"
 * "Empty Places"
 * "Touched"
 * "End of Days"
 * "Chosen"

Buffy Season 8
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 * "The Long Way Home"
 * "The Chain"
 * "No Future For You"
 * "Safe"
 * "Retreat"
 * "Turbulence"
 * "Twilight"
 * "Last Gleaming"

Other Appearances
Giles also appears in the Buffy expanded Universe. He appears in many Buffy comics/novels. Giles appears notably in Ring of Fire and Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Giles.