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Revision as of 00:10, 25 May 2009
- “Seven years, [...] Working with the Slayer. Seeing my friends get more and more powerful. [...] All of them. And I'm the guy who fixes the windows.”
- ―Xander[src]
Alexander Lavelle "Xander" Harris was a close friend of Slayer Buffy Summers and founding member of the Scooby Gang. A student at the Hellmouth-based Sunnydale High, Xander helped aid Buffy in her Slayer duties. In keeping with his habit of attracting demon females, Xander eventually fell in love with an ex-vengeance demon called Anya, but their relationship fell apart when Xander left Anya at the altar on their wedding day and finally ended after Anya's death in 2003. One of the few with no mystical powers or supernatural knowledge, Xander was often considered the weak link of the Scooby Gang; instead, he aided his friends with his emotional insight and support. When the team became a worldwide organization, Xander took on a role similar to Watcher by commanding several Slayer squads.
Xander was portrayed by Nicholas Brendon, whose twin brother Kelly Donovan occasionally appeared as his double. He first appeared in the television series 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer and remained a cast regular for all seven seasons. Xander's story is continued in the canonical comic book Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight and he has also been featured in expanded universe material such as comic books and novels.
Biography
Early life
- “You're a whipping boy. Raised by mongrels and set on a sacrifical stone.”
- ―Principal Snyder describes Xander's upbringing in a dream.[src]
Alexander Lavelle Harris was born to Anthony and Jessica Harris and grew up in the small Californian town of Sunnydale. Xander's father was a self-pitying drunk while his mother was a fragile mess; both parents were negligent and even abusive towards their son, leaving him with various insecurities.[1][2] Xander's lifelong best friend was Willow Rosenberg, who secretly harboured a hopeless crush on him. The pair briefly "dated" when they were five but broke up over a stolen Barbie.[3] In kindergarten, Xander suffered an unknown humiliation involving Aquaman underpants.[4] Xander and Willow developed a mutual hatred of their snobby classmate Cordelia Chase, which led them to form the "We Hate Cordelia Club", of which Xander was the treasurer.[5] At his sixth birthday party, Xander's parents hired a clown which chased him; this traumatic incident gave him a lifelong phobia of clowns and caused him to suffer from nightmares.[6] When Xander did not get a toy firetruck for his seventh birthday, the house next door burned down and he believed that Willow had set the fire to let him see real firetrucks.[7] When he was thirteen, he attended Willow's bat miztvah, where his drunken parents caused a scene.[1]
Sunnydale High
Xander's life would change dramatically after befriending the Slayer, Buffy Summers.
In his sophomore year of high school, Xander met Buffy Summers on her first day at Sunnydale High and overheard her bizarre conversation with school librarian Rupert Giles regarding demons and vampires.[3] Xander and Willow discovered that Sunnydale was situated on a Hellmouth and that Buffy was actually the Slayer, granted with supernatural powers and destined to fight the forces of evil. When his other best friend Jesse McNally was kidnapped and turned into a vampire, Xander was forced to reluctantly stake him. After stopping the Harvest together, Buffy, Xander, Willow, and Giles formed the "Scooby Gang", a small group of people who helped Buffy fight the forces of darkness.[8] Xander's exploits with the Scoobies included nearly being decapitated by the She-Mantis,[9] being possessed by a hyena,[10] and having his nightmares about his sixth birthday clown come to life.[6] Developing romantic feelings for Buffy, Xander was jealous of her brief relationship with loner Owen Thurman and her attraction to handsome stranger Angel.[11] His hostility towards Angel grew stronger when he turned out to be a vampire, albeit one with a soul.[12] Xander finally admitted his feeling to Buffy and was bitterly disapointed when she rejected him. However, he later saved her life by performing CPR when she was drowned by the Master, something Angel was unable to do due to his lack of breath.[13]
In his junior year, Xander shared a brief a relationship with a foreign exchange student who turned out to be an Inca mummy.[14] On Halloween, a spell caused the trick-or-treaters of Sunnydale to turn into their costumes, transforming Xander into a soldier. When the spell was lifted, he retained his memories and knowledge of the military.[15] While hiding from a demonic assassin in Buffy's basement, the tension between Xander and Cordelia resulted in a kiss, and the pair began a secret relationship.[16] When Willow discovered their affair, she was devastated and offended that Xander would rather be with Cordelia than her.[5] Eventually, Cordelia's friends found out about the relationship as well, and Cordelia became alienated from the popular crowd, leading her to break up with Xander on Valentines Day. Wanting revenge, Xander coerced Amy Madison to cast a love spell on Cordelia so he could hurt her. The spell backfired, and Xander became irresistible to every female in Sunnydale, except Cordelia, who, realizing that Xander genuinely cared for her, reunited with him in defiance of her former friends.[17] Xander's infiltration of the Sunnydale High Swim Team nearly led to him being transformed into a fish man.[18] When Angel lost his soul and became the evil Angelus, Xander felt his long-standing mistrust of the vampire was validated, especially when he murdered Giles' girlfriend Jenny Calendar.[19] Xander encouraged Buffy to kill Angelus, neglecting to tell her that Willow was planning to re-ensoul him.[20]
- “It must be really hard when all your friends have, like, superpowers—Slayer, werewolf, witches, vampires—and you're, like, this little nothing. You must feel like... Jimmy Oslen.”
- ―Cordelia questions Xander's usefulness to the Scooby Gang.[src]
Xander revives an interest in Willow in their senior year of high school, and they share a kiss which leads to Cordelia suffering near-fatal injury,[21] and the arrival of the vengeance demon Anyanka in Sunnydale.[22] Following their break-up, Cordelia steps up her usual ridicule of Xander, labeling him "The Zeppo" and mocking him for being useless compared to his friends, who are Slayers, witches, werewolves, and vampires. In an attempt to prove her wrong, Xander embarks on an adventure with a group of zombies led by tough guy Jack O'Toole, losing his virginity to Faith Lehane in the process. However, when O'Toole and his friends try to blow up Sunnydale High, Xander single-handedly puts an end to their plan.[23] Later, he is asked to the Prom by Anya, formerly the vengeance demon Anyanka. At his high school graduation, Xander leads Sunnydale High's students against Mayor Wilkins and his vampires.[24]
Growing up
Following high school, Xander struggles through a series of odd jobs as he tries to find a role for himself.
In Season Four, Xander's inferiority complex and feelings of isolation increase when he chooses not to enroll in college with his friends. After graduating from high school, he sets upon a cross-country trip inspired by Jack Kerouac's On the Road that ends when his car breaks down. Returning to Sunnydale, he moves into his parents' basement, for which he has to pay rent, and takes a series of odd jobs as a food vendor, a bartender, a phone-sex operator, and a deliveryman. Xander's problems multiply when he is forced to accept Spike as a roommate for a short time while the Scoobies are in hiding from the Initiative After much persuasion, he has sex with Anya and they begin dating. Initially, his interest in Anya is purely sexual, but as the season progresses, he develops genuine feelings for her, eventually falling in love. In the Season Four finale "Primeval," Xander gives Buffy his "heart" in the spell that defeats Adam.
- “You know what? I'm sick of this crap. I'm sick of being the guy who eats insects and gets the funny syphilis. As of this moment, it's over. I'm finished being everybody's butt-monkey!”
- ―Xander decides to take control of his directionless life.[src]
Season Five sees Xander mature significantly, pursuing a more stable career in carpentry and construction work, and moving into his own apartment with Anya. When famous vampire Dracula comes to Sunnydale in search of the Slayer, he hypnotizes Xander into briefly becoming his willing manservant.[25] The pair apparently remained in touch through letters following Dracula's departure.[26] After being hit by the demon Toth's Ferula Gemini, Xander is split into two separate beings; one displaying his strengths and one displaying his weaknesses (cf. "The Replacement"). In "Triangle", he defends Willow and Anya equally from Anya's ex-boyfriend, Olaf the Troll, despite being forced to choose between them. Shortly before going into battle with the hell-goddess Glory, Xander asks Anya to marry him should they survive.
Xander is the only one of the Scoobies able to save the world from Dark Willow, restoring her humanity with his unconditional love.
By the sixth season, Xander is beginning to have doubts about his future with Anya. Hoping for a happy ending, he summons the demon Sweet to turn Sunnydale into a living musical, which goes horribly wrong when people start bursting into flames as well as song (cf. "Once More, with Feeling"). Xander's fears over marrying Anya are made worse by a visit from a demon pretending to be his future self, showing him a bitter future trapped in a marriage similar to his parents' (cf. "Hell's Bells"). Although the vision is later revealed to be false, Xander admits to having doubts beforehand and leaves a heartbroken Anya at the altar. When Willow turns evil after her girlfriend Tara Maclay is killed, Xander's love for his childhood friend turns her around and saves the world (cf. "Grave").
In Season Seven, Xander struggles over his feelings with Anya and suffers a devastating injury. When Buffy's sister Dawn mistakenly believes herself to be a Potential Slayer, Xander empathizes with her disappointment at not being the one in the spotlight (cf. "Potential"). Despite admitting that they still love each other, he and Anya finally break up for good, but continue to have the odd fling in times of crisis. In the episode "Dirty Girls," Xander has his left eye gouged out by the evil preacher Caleb, and begins wearing an eyepatch.[27] In the final battle against the First Evil, Anya is killed by a Bringer's sword, and her body remains in the new Sunnydale High's ruins as the empty town is swallowed by the earth. Andrew Wells, whom she had fought alongside, comforts Xander by saying that Anya had died saving his life. Xander replies by saying, "That's my girl. Always doing the stupid thing."
Post-Sunnydale
Xander as commander to the Slayers.
Following Sunnydale's destruction, Xander took a "leave of absence" from the Scooby Gang to mourn Anya's death.[26] He may have spent some time in Africa,[28] and eventually reunited with Dracula. Xander resumed his old position as the vampire's loyal manservant, living with him in his Transylvanian castle for several months, during which the pair offered each other company and Xander taught Dracula how to ride a motorcycle.[29][26] Buffy eventually tracked her friend down and showed up at Dracula's castle with two other Slayers in a bid to rescue him, but the brainwashed Xander remained loyal to his "master" and tried to fight them off. Eventually, Dracula admitted that Xander belonged with his friends, and, after an emotional farewell, released him from his trance.[29] Xander returned to the Scooby Gang, which had expanded into a worldwide organization, and took on a Watcher-like role leading various Slayer squads from the central command base in Scotland. Keeping in touch with his Slayers through computer screens and earpieces, he jokingly compared himself to comic book character Nick Fury.[30]
Xander began a flirtatious relationship with a Slayer named Renee, who he finally asked out on a date. When the Scoobies came under attack from vampires with powers similar to Dracula, Xander reluctantly visited his old master for aid in how to defeat them, bringing Renee to keep an eye on him in case he started to fall under the thrall again.[31]
Personality
- “I laugh in the face of danger. Then I hide till it goes away.”
- ―Xander[src]
Xander's most notable character trait is his sarcastic, flippant attitude and sardonic view on life. He often jokes in serious situations or when someone makes what was intended to be a dramatic statement. He frequently quips about school, his family, and his romantic life. He was scared of failing his friends as well as not making something of himself, as was shown in "Restless" when he continually returned to his basement.
Although Xander is often laid back, he can overeact in certain situations and lose his temper. He is very protective of his friends. When Willow was kidnapped ("When She Was Bad"), a furious Xander told Buffy he would kill her if Willow got hurt. He often serves as the straightman of the gang but will speak his mind on issues involving his friends and is always willing to stand by and fight for his friends when neccessary.
Powers and abilities
- “They'll never know how tough it is, Dawnie. To be the one who isn't chosen; to live so near the spotlight and never step in it. But I know. I see more than anybody realizes, 'cause nobody's watching me.”
- ―Xander Harris[src]
He was the only member of the Scooby Gang, save for two-years member Cordelia Chase, who never developed any permanent superpowers of his own, though he gained much experience from battling by Buffy's side. As Buffy explained to the Watchers' Council, Xander had clocked more field time than all of the Watchers combined. Also, it was Xander who saved the world from the rage-filled Willow using only his words when she sought to destroy all life on earth.
In 1997, Xander was briefly possessed by the spirit of a particularly violent species of hyena. During this short time, he possessed enhanced strength equal, if not superior, to that of a Slayer, as well of heightened senses of smell and hearing. However, he was also imbued with the hyena's predatory instincts, a taste for fresh, raw meat. He lost all of these abilities when the spirit was exorcised.
In Halloween 1998, Xander was briefly transformed into a soldier, thereby acquiring knowledge of military training, tactics, and weapons handling techniques. After the spell was broken, his abilities faded over the next few years, but did not disappear completely. He kept knowledge such as military codes and training, allowing him to break into a military installation and, by 1999, organize a defense against Mayor Wilkins after he has transformed into Olvikan. Months later, he admitted that his military skills had kept on degrading.
Xander was once hit by a bolt from the Ferula Gemina which split his personality into two different beings [32], resulting in one Xander who was laid-back and confident, easily getting a promotion and a large apartment, and another Xander who was highly insecure and paranoid, believing that the other him was a demon who was hypnotizing his friends. Before Willow breaks the spell, the two become more alike, to which Giles mentions that he is (literally) a "bad influence on himself".
Xander became a skilled carpenter by 2003, gaining practical job experience from repairing damage caused by various combats involving the Scooby Gang (normally repairing the windows of the Summers residence) and as a foreman of a construction crew.
In Season Seven, both Xander and the evil priest Caleb make reference to Xander being "the one that sees everything" in that he sees his friends' flaws and strengths more clearly than anyone else, simply because no one is looking at him, even going so far as Dawn saying that this perhaps is his superpower. This human (non supernatural) strength - his insight, empathy, and understanding - is what prompts Caleb to take Xander's eye, also knowing that it would incite the wrath of Buffy.
In Season Eight, his military knowledge gives him the leadership of a government-described "army" of Slayers, witches and seers, considered as an international "terrorist" organization based in a Scottish citadel. The organization which he heads alongside Buffy carries high-tech and magical weaponry. Xander oversees and orchestrates the efforts of Willow, Dawn, Buffy and his Slayers through cameras and earpieces.
Romantic relationships
A recurring joke about Xander is that he is a "demon magnet," as many of the women he has dated or been attracted to have turned out to be demonic or in some other way supernatural.
- Willow Rosenberg — After a brief romantic involvement in elementary school, Xander and Willow are best friends for years. Xander shares a moment of tenderness with Willow during the boring summer of 1997, which is ended by Buffy's return. Later, in the show's third season, Xander and Willow began a secret romance while he was dating Cordelia and she was dating Oz. This ends when Cordelia and Oz rescue Xander and Willow, who have been kidnapped by Spike, and discover them kissing. However, at some level, Xander retains deep feelings for Willow, these feelings are what he reaches out to in order to turn Dark Willow from her path of destroying the world, simply by refusing to leave as she commands him and bringing up all the incidents in their life they had shared and the friendship between them.
- Buffy Summers — Seeing her on her first day at Sunnydale High caused Xander to crash into a railing, literally falling head over heels. Buffy, however, sees Xander only as a friend, and over time, they have become surrogate siblings (the only exception to this was in the episode "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered", see below). In issue two of Buffy Season 8, Buffy dreams of them being in a relationship, a dream in which Buffy attempts a more than platonic kiss (which results in Xander's still talking head popping off his shoulders), and it is implied that they have slept in the same bed.
- Miss Natalie French — The real teacher was born in 1907 and taught for a few decades. Her name was stolen by a demonic she-mantis whose pheromones attracted many of Sunnydale's males. She drugged Xander's drink at her house and intended to mate with him before beheading him. Buffy managed to stop her and save Xander in time.
- "Ampata" — The Incan mummy girl, impersonating an exchange student named Ampata, wanted to live the normal life she never had a chance to. She fell for Xander as he was the first male she'd ever met who didn't treat her as a princess, but as a person. However, her love with Xander was short-lived when she attempted to kiss him (and thus draining him of life to continue her own), when he offered himself to her to stop her draining Buffy and Willow. In the end, however, she collapsed from lack of energy, and never reached any of them.
- Every woman in Sunnydale — When Amy Madison performed the magic spell to make Cordelia fall madly in love with Xander just so he could break up with her and hurt her, it backfired and made every woman (vampire Drusilla included) in Sunnydale except Cordelia fall in love with the "irresistible" Xander Harris; as a result, Xander was nearly killed by a veritable army of demented women who were resolved to kill Xander if they couldn't have him for themselves, and Buffy was briefly turned into a rat by a jealous Amy.
- Cordelia Chase — Cordelia and Xander meet as children and are antagonistic from the beginning, making their romantic relationship in high school all the more bewildering. They faced several obstacles, including peer pressure from Cordelia's clique (she is ostracized from her social circle), Cordelia's self-involved and insensitive manner, and Xander's unresolved attraction to Willow, Buffy, and Faith. When Cordelia discovers Xander and Willow kissing in the basement of an abandoned factory (where they are being held prisoner), she ends their relationship for good. By the end of Season Three, they have settled into a hesitant friendship (for example, Xander buys her a prom dress after he discovers that her family has lost its wealth). After graduation, their lives take different paths; he remains in Sunnydale and fights evil with Buffy, and she moves to Los Angeles to become an actress (see Angel) and later "helps the helpless" with Angel.
- Faith Lehane — Some weeks after his relationship with Cordelia dissolved, Xander found himself helping Faith fight a demon one night in the episode "The Zeppo." After the battle, an adrenaline-fueled Faith took Xander back to her apartment and had sex with him; this was Xander's first sexual encounter. Weeks later, after Faith had gone rogue and killed a man, Xander confronted her about her actions. Faith started to rape Xander and then to strangle him before being hit in the head with a baseball bat by Angel. Faith mentions that she never wanted a relationship like Xander thought that she did, and was merely with him for the sex. During Season 7 of Buffy, when some Potential Slayers complain about Anya mentioning her sex-life with Xander, Faith says that whenever she hears Anya talking about sex, she reminds Anya that she was Xander's first, which makes Anya shut up.
- Anya Jenkins — Xander's most long-term relationship, despite such problems as Anya's total disregard for normal social conventions such as not talking about sex in public. Despite this, however, the two fell deeply in love, coming very close to getting married, and retained strong feelings for each other. The two officially remained broken up, but once Xander lost his eye Anya began to care for him more. The two became swept up in the moment when overhearing Willow and Kennedy, and Principal Wood and Faith respectively having sex. Before going into the final battle Anya and Xander wish each other luck. Anya fights alongside Andrew, but she is killed by a Bringer. As the school is crumbling Xander frantically calls out Anya's name but doesn't notice her body lying on the floor. When Xander asks Andrew what happened to Anya he is told that she died protecting him, to which Xander replies 'That's my girl, always doing the stupid thing.'.
- Nancy — After being frustrated with his own relationship problems with Anya and others in the past, Xander luckily runs into Nancy and, along with the gang, protects her from a giant worm-like demon that was specifically attacking her. Xander walks her home, and both new at dating, they awkwardly ask each other out. However, after finding out the demon is Nancy's ex-boyfriend who was turned into the worm-like creature by Xander's own ex-fiancee, Anya, the two never date.
- Lissa — Approximately a year after his breakup with Anya, Xander takes another dip in the dating pool, and impulsively asks out Lissa, a beautiful woman he meets at a hardware store. Their date goes well until Lissa ties Xander to a torture wheel, reveals herself to be a demon, and cheerfully prepares to use Xander as a human sacrifice. Xander, before being rescued, ponders what causes him to keep getting involved with female demons.
- Renee — Renee is a young Slayer who has a crush on Xander. Directly before the attack by Amy's army of the undead, she and another Slayer are conversing about Renee's feelings for him, which she denies. Later she and Xander joke with each other and he comforts her about feeling like she was doing a poor job as a Slayer. After some time, Renee and Xander travel to Japan alongside Buffy, to help her get The Scythe back. Before they depart for The Scythe rescue mission, they share a kiss and she asks Xander on a date. During the mission, Renee is killed by Toru, leader of the Tokyo vampires. After the mission, Xander spreads her ashes on a japanese garden. She appears in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight comic.
Gallery
Appearances
Canonical appearances
Xander has been in 148 canonical Buffyverse appearances.
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer
- Xander was a series regular for all seven seasons, but was absent from "Conversations with Dead People". He appeared in 143 in total.
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 comic
- Xander has appeared in five issues so far.
Other stories featuring Xander which are considered canonical include "Antique" from the 2004 comic mini-series Tales of the Vampires.
Non-canonical appearances
Xander has also appeared in Buffy expanded universe material. He appears in most of the Buffy comics and novels, and is a playable character in the 2003 video game Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds.
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Hell's Bells"
- ↑ "Restless"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Welcome to the Hellmouth"
- ↑ "The Killer in Me"
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Innocence"
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Nightmares"
- ↑ "The Replacement"
- ↑ "The Harvest"
- ↑ "Teacher's Pet"
- ↑ "The Pack"
- ↑ "Never Kill a Boy on the First Date"
- ↑ "Angel"
- ↑ "Prophecy Girl"
- ↑ "Inca Mummy Girl"
- ↑ "Halloween"
- ↑ "What's My Line, Part Two"
- ↑ "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered"
- ↑ "Go Fish"
- ↑ "Passion"
- ↑ "Becoming, Part Two"
- ↑ "Lovers Walk"
- ↑ "The Wish"
- ↑ "The Zeppo"
- ↑ "Graduation Day, Part Two"
- ↑ "Buffy vs. Dracula"
- ↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 "Wolves at the Gate, Part Two"
- ↑ In the DVD commentary for the episode "Dirty Girls", writer Drew Goddard mentions there was talk of killing off Xander towards the end of Season 7 and having The First Evil assume Xander's appearance when conversing with Buffy for the remainder of the season. This was ultimately decided against since Xander was thought to be too important to the series, and that his death occurring so late in the season would leave little time to deal with it correctly, and that throughout the series' run, Xander was the one character who never wavered, and to punish that characteristic with death would send a message the staff wasn't trying to get across. Instead of killing Xander, he was blinded in one eye.
- ↑ "Damage"
- ↑ 29.0 29.1 "Antique"
- ↑ "The Long Way Home, Part One"
- ↑ "Wolves at the Gate, Part One"
- ↑ "The Replacement"