Alexander Harris

↳ Note: This article is about the Scooby Gang member. For other uses, see Xander.

Alexander Harris
Name	Alexander Lavelle Harris
Aliases	Xander Xan Man Xan Alex Nighthawk
Status	Alive
Born	January 1981, Sunnydale
Classif.	Human
Affiliation	Scooby Gang Slayer Organization Sunnydale High students Class of '99 Sunnydale High Swim Team The Pack We Hate Cordelia Club
Relatives	Jessica Harris (mother) Anthony Harris (father) Rory (uncle) Dave (uncle) Carol (cousin) Karen (cousin) Joyce Harris (daughter)
Appearances
Debut	"Welcome to the Hellmouth"
Last seen	Finale
Portrayed by	Nicholas Brendon Kelly Donovan Daniel Taylor

“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. They'll never know how tough it is, Dawnie. To be the one who isn't chosen, to live so near to the spotlight and never step in it. But I know. I see more than anybody realizes because nobody's watching me.”

―Xander

Alexander Lavelle "Xander" Harris was the best friend of Slayer Buffy Summers and a founding member of the Scooby Gang. Being the only one of his group of friends to not possess any supernatural abilities, Xander was usually the one who saw everything beyond the supernatural. Besides this, Xander was known to be very humorous and sarcastic, especially in the face of danger.

Biography

Early life

“You're a whipping boy. Raised by mongrels and set on a sacrificial stone.”

―Snyder describes Xander in a dream.

Xander was born to Anthony and Jessica Harris and grew up in the small California town of Sunnydale sometime before the middle of January in 1981. Xander's father struggled with alcohol addiction while his mother's mental health declined; both parents were negligent and even abusive towards their son, leaving him with various insecurities.

Xander's lifelong best friend was Willow Rosenberg, who secretly harbored a hopeless crush on him. The pair briefly "dated" when they were five, but broke up over a stolen Barbie. In kindergarten, Xander suffered an unknown humiliation involving Aquaman underpants. 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.

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. When Xander did not get a toy fire truck for his seventh birthday, the house next door burned down and he believed that Willow had set the fire to let him see real fire trucks. When he was seven, Xander had to take a test to see if he had a learning disability. Despite being a little slow on math and spatial relations, it was assured he wasn't "challenged". When he was sixteen, he attended Willow's Bar Mitzvah, where his drunken parents caused a scene.

Sunnydale High

Crush on the Slayer

In his sophomore year of high school, Xander met Buffy Summers on her first day at Sunnydale High School and overheard her bizarre conversation with school librarian Rupert Giles regarding demons and vampires. Xander and Willow discovered that Sunnydale was situated on a Hellmouth and that Buffy was actually the Slayer, granted supernatural powers and destined to fight the forces of evil.

Xander bumps into Buffy and finds the stake that spilled from her purse.

When his other best friend, Jesse McNally, was kidnapped and turned into a vampire, Xander fought him and accidentally staked him when someone pushed Jesse into the stake Xander was holding. After stopping the Harvest together, Buffy, Xander, Willow, and Giles formed what Xander named as the Scooby Gang, a small group of allies who helped the Slayer fight the forces of darkness.

Xander acted mainly as a sideman alongside Buffy who always provided constant comic relief. One of the main aspects in his sophomore years was his longing attraction for Buffy which he quickly developed upon seeing her. This was put alongside when a beautiful substitute biology teacher named Miss French directed his interest into her. Ignoring Buffy and her suspicions about Miss French, Xander ended up finding out she was actually the She-Mantis, a giant insect that disguised itself as a beautiful woman to seduce, mate with and eventually eat male virgins. Buffy saved Xander before he could be raped and decapitated, and his attraction was returned to her.

Xander becomes possessed by a hyena spirit at the local zoo.

His feelings took a dangerous turn when he and a gang of bullies were possessed by the spirit of hyenas through a Primal ritual. This twisting his feelings to the point of obsession where he sexually assaulted Buffy as well as committing several other exploits such as bulling students, insulting Willow, and eating a live pig. Buffy and Giles eventually found a way to remove the hyena spirit from him and the other students. Embarrassed, he pretended that the experience was removed from his memory, with only Giles being aware of his memories.

Returning to his schoolboy crush, Xander showed great jealousy to any man Buffy took an interest such as her brief relationship with loner Owen Thurman and her attraction to the handsome stranger Angel. His hostility towards Angel grew stronger when he learned that Angel was a vampire, albeit one with a soul. He encouraged Buffy to kill him since she was the slayer and was willing to do so when it seemed that he hurt her mother. Finding out he was framed, Xander still didn't trust Angel and was shocked to discover Buffy still liked him.

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Xander saves Buffy after performing CPR.

Come Prom time, Xander finally admitted his feelings to Buffy, wanting to take her as his date. Buffy did not share the same feelings and rejected him, leaving him bitterly disappointed. He then asked Willow on the rebound, but, despite her crush on him, rejected his offer as she knew his true intentions. Saddened and depressed, Xander lied on his bed and listened to country music ("the music of pain"). However, he still made it his mission to save Buffy when he was told she went off to fight the Master, despite destiny claiming she would die. Xander teamed up with Angel to look for her but was too late as the Master already drowned her. As Angel had no breath, Xander saved Buffy's life by performing CPR, allowing her to kill the Master.

Overcoming insecurity

Xander finds trouble with a girl who isn't what she appears to be.

In his junior year, Xander still continued to have an attraction for Buffy, but to a lesser extent, despite having threatened to kill her when her new distant and emotionally crude attitude after her death experience got Willow kidnapped by vampires.

During a foreign exchange student program, he fell for Buffy's assigned partner, Ampata Gutierrez; however, he soon discovered she was an awoken Inca Mummy in disguise as a Peruvian exchange student. As she needed to suck the essences of others to survive, effectively killing them, Xander refused to let her take Willow's life so they could be together and she then died. Being his second supernatural love interest, Xander noticed a pattern which would soon follow up.

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Xander becomes a commando during a Halloween curse.

On Halloween, Sunnydale fell victim of the Ritual of Janus, which caused trick-or-treaters to take on the personalities and/or traits of their costumes, transforming Xander into an armed and experienced soldier. When the spell was lifted, he retained his memories and knowledge of the military, giving him better fighting skills and the know-how on using certain weapons or technology. This came at its handiest when Buffy needed to disassemble the Judge, a powerful demon who was invincible and could kill with a touch. With his knowledge, Xander got into a military barracks by blackmailing a soldier who was dressed wrongly, allowing Xander to obtain a rocket launcher for Buffy.

While hiding in Buffy's basement from the demonic assassin Norman Pfister, the tension between Xander and Cordelia resulted in a kiss. They tried to deny their attractions but couldn't resist each other and the pair began a secret relationship, consisting largely of making-out in a closet. When Willow discovered their affair, she was devastated and offended that Xander would rather be with Cordelia than her. 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 Valentine's Day.

After a spell goes array, every woman and girl in town obsesses and wants Xander.

Wanting revenge, Xander coerced the witch, Amy Madison into casting a love spell on Cordelia so he could dump her so she could hurt her as she hurt him. The spell backfired, and Xander became irresistible to every female in Sunnydale except Cordelia.

He took no enjoyment and rejected all the advances from Amy, Willow, and even Buffy, instead, he tried to avoid the obsessed women who then aimed to kill him out of the desire to stop Xander falling in the hands of Cordelia, who accompanied him in his escape as she was targeted for rejecting him. As the spell was broken, Cordelia, realizing that Xander genuinely cared for her, reunited with him in defiance of her former friends and the two started an open relationship afterward.

Xander joins the swim team to try and help figure out what is happening to the players.

After the suspected deaths of Sunnydale High Swim Team by fish-like beasts, Xander infiltrated the team by joining them, which required him to wear small red Speedos to the pleasure of Cordelia and Willow. He soon discovered that the swim team members were actually becoming Gill Monsters as opposed to being killed by them. Exposed by the performance-enhancing cold war drugs that initiated the change via aromatherapy, Xander feared he would become one of those monsters until he received the necessary treatments to undo the process when he and Buffy stopped the swim team's insane Coach who perpetrated the transformations.

When Angel lost his soul and reverted to the evil Angelus, Xander felt that his long-standing mistrust of the vampire had been validated, especially when he murdered Giles' girlfriend and Sunnydale High teacher Jennifer Calendar. A rage-filled Xander opposed Buffy's back-up plan for Willow to re-ensoul him if required, believing Buffy wanted to forget his actions to get her boyfriend back.

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Xander pushes Buffy to slay Angel.

The attempt of re-ensouling Angel failed when his minions attacked the Scoobies, causing a fight in which left Xander with a broken his arm, Willow unconscious at the hospital, Giles kidnapped, and Kendra Young dead. Xander took the opportunity when Buffy was willing to kill Angelus and encouraged her to do so, deliberately neglecting to tell her that Willow was planning to attempt the ritual him once again. Xander later rescued Giles during their ambush Angelus' mansion, before Buffy sent the newly ensouled Angel to hell.

Finding his identity

In his senior year of high school, Xander joined Willow and her new boyfriend Oz in patrolling for vampires at night in place of Buffy who left Sunnydale to L.A. without a word after her encounter with Angel. When she returned, Xander argued his disapproval for her leaving during her welcome back party, acknowledging that she was selfish to run away, especially from her mother.

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Xander defends Joyce after Buffy almost leaves again.

Adding to further disappointment from Buffy, Xander was the first of the Scoobies to discover Angel's return from Hell, and that Buffy has been secretly rehabilitating him and still had feelings for him when he found them passionately kissing. Furious and disgusted that Buffy still loved Angel after Angelus' siege against Sunnydale only a year before, Xander immediately informed the other Scoobies of Angel's return and even went so far as to manipulate Faith Lehane into attempting to slay him. However, when Angel saved Willow from being killed by the corrupt ex-Watcher Gwendolyn Post, Xander begrudgingly accepted him back into the fold.

Suddenly, Xander began to have a romantic interest in Willow and she to him, leading to several secret kisses between them which were problematic because of their current respective partners. While Willow tried to find a way to end their urges through magic, they were kidnapped by Spike, a vampire that rampaged in Sunnydale for a period with his lover Drusilla who took Willow so she would use her skills in magic to create a love spell on Drusilla after she dumped him.

In their senior year, Xander and Willow become more than friends.

Injured, Xander and Willow shared their final kiss that contributed to Cordelia suffering a near-fatal injury after she and Oz discovered the two in the act. He appeared to her at the hospital with flowers and she immediately told him to stay away from her, thus ending their relationship. Returning to school, Cordelia's anger along with being mocked by her friends when she reunited with them, led to the arrival of the misandrist vengeance demon Anyanka in Sunnydale, though she was quickly depowered into a human.

Following their break-up, Cordelia stepped up her usual ridicule of Xander, labeling him "the Zeppo" and mocking him for being useless compared to his friends, who were Slayers, witches, werewolves, and vampires.

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Unknown to the others, Xander alone stops a group of zombie delinquents.

In an attempt to prove her wrong, Xander acquired a hotted-up car which led him to embark on an adventure with a group of zombies, led by tough-guy Jack O'Toole who used Xander as transportation. However, when O'Toole and his friends tried to blow up Sunnydale High, Xander single-handedly put an end to their plan by convincing Jack to deactivate the explosives. While this happened, the other Scoobies fought to prevent the apocalypse from happening, dismissing Xander's involvement for his safety and remaining unaware of Xander's heroism the next day. Also, during that insane day, Xander also lost his virginity to Faith after he aided her during a fight. After this, he believed he and Faith shared a connection, not knowing the full extent of her promiscuous behavior and that he was just another man used and thrown by her. As Faith wouldn't own up after murdering a human, Xander approached but ended up nearly being raped before Angel saved him.

Xander witnesses his school explode during graduation.

During the upcoming Senior Prom, Xander was asked by what was Anyanka, now Anya to go with her as neither of them had dates so he accepted. During this time, he discovered that Cordelia's family lost their wealth, home, and cars because of her father's tax evasion, and made peace with Cordelia by helping her pay for her prom dress. At his high school graduation, Xander led Sunnydale High's students against Mayor Wilkins and his vampires, acting as a commander alongside Buffy. After the school blew up and killed the Mayor, Xander expressed his happiness that high school was literally destroyed and that it was the best part of it, which was agreed upon the rest of his friends.

Struggle with growing up

“This is so like them lately. It's all about them and the college life. You know what college is? It's high school without the actual going to class. Well, high school was sort of like that too but the point is, I'm the one working hard to earn a living and it's a huge joke to them. "Xander got fired from Starbucks." "Xander got fired from the phone sex place…"”

―Xander

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Xander tells Buffy how she inspires him.

Xander's inferiority complex and feelings of isolation increased when he chose not to enroll in UC Sunnydale like Buffy, Willow, and Oz. After graduating from high school, he set upon a cross-country trip inspired by Jack Kerouac's On the Road that ended when his car broke down having only gone as far as Oxnard. Needing to pay for repairs, he was forced to take a job as a dishwasher at a "Ladies Night" club for a month and a half where no one ever spoke to him until one night when one of the male strippers called in sick, making him do the obvious, though he claimed: "no power on this earth would make me tell you the rest of that story". He then traded his car for one that wasn't "entirely made out of rust". In his entire trip outside of Sunnydale, the only aspect of knowledge gaining he accomplished was watching the film Grand Canyon, which he found was lame.

Returning to Sunnydale, he moved into his parents' basement where he had to pay rent. He arrived several days before his friend's first day at college without calling them, as he didn't want to help them move.

While sick and riddled with various diseases, Xander accepts Anya as his girlfriend.

Reuniting with Buffy, he continued to help the gang in fighting demons as well as hanging out with hem on campus. During this time, Xander took a series of odd jobs such as a food vendor, a phone-sex operator, and a deliveryman. His most notable jobs included being a bartender at the college bar after using a fake ID. There he served a brand of beer called Black Frost that, not to his initial knowledge, was cursed by the bar owner to turn the patrons, including Buffy, into savage cavemen, likely leading to the end of that job where he initially expressed the excitement of offering to light lonely patron's cigarettes. He also worked at a construction site, building a new Cultural Center that led him to be briefly contracted with mystical syphilis, malaria, and smallpox after he was attacked by the Hus, a vengeful Chumash spirit.

Shortly after his arrival to Sunnydale, Xander was approached by Anya who still had feelings for him and after a very little persuasion, he had sex with Anya and then began dating. Initially, his interest in Anya was purely sexual, but as time went on, he developed genuine feelings for her, eventually falling in love. Unfortunately, Xander's problems multiplied when he was forced to accept Spike as a roommate for a short time while the Scoobies were hiding from the Initiative.

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Spike tells and makes Xander believe he's useless.

Throughout the year, Xander relentlessly had to deal with the fact that his friends were going places in their lives while he struggled to see himself as a grown-up. These feelings were used against him when Spike, recruited the gang's newest big bad Adam, used the power of words to separate Buffy, Willow, Giles, and Xander. Spike made Xander feel he was useless in the gang and that his friends talked about sending him to the army, so Xander fled to the basement where he laid down in his bed in the nude. It wasn't until Anya came and made him feel important. He then rejoined his friends in their plan to defeat Adam. Walking through the Initiative compound, Xander helped Buffy clear through the various rioting demons with the help of an Initiative taser blaster. He then joined them in performing the Enjoining spell, binding their essences with Xander providing the "heart" in the team so they could defeat Adam.

Xander helps to fight through the Initiative underground.

Later, when the four had a movie night at Buffy's house, Xander brought Apocalypse Now but they all fell asleep before it even began. Meanwhile, Sineya, the First Slayer, attacked them in their dreams, angry that Buffy worked with others to fight evil. In Xander's dream, he abstractly dealt with aspects with his life such as his inner primal desires, insecurity around others, loyalty to Buffy, relationship with Anya, crummy upbringing, and his journey in life.

Maturation

“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.

When the famous vampire, Dracula, came to Sunnydale in search of the Slayer, he hypnotized Xander into briefly becoming his willing manservant. Xander became a bubbling, spider-eating Renfield that escorted an entranced Buffy to Dracula as he was promised he would become a vampire.

After Xander basically becomes Dracula's Renfield, he declares the end of his reputation as a "butt monkey" once and for all.

He tried to prevent the intervention of Buffy's current boyfriend Riley Finn but was easily taken out. As he regained consciousness, Buffy already bested Dracula and Xander, free from his thrall, expressed his anger, not only at Dracula but generally how he is the "butt monkey", and declared he will be no more. Despite what Dracula did to Xander, the pair apparently remained in touch through letters following Dracula's departure.

Xander later decided to move out of his parent's basement and try for an apartment, but he failed to impress the building manager with his inability to pay for it and his physical appearance, disappointing Anya who wanted him to buy it. When the demon Toth came in search of the Slayer and attack her with the Ferula Gemini, Xander took the blast for her and was then split into two separate beings; one displaying his strengths while carrying a flattened nickel and one displaying his weaknesses.

After Xander watches his replacement, he realizes he can also change and becomes a little more confident.

His stronger half excelled, dressing more presentable and getting a promotion in his current job in construction, which allowed him to lease the apartment. The weaker half-believed the other half was the evil weapon of Toth that used the nickel to mesmerize people into trusting him. While the stronger Xander was with Anya, the weaker Xander tried to kill him with Anya's revolver. After Toth was killed, the Xanders found out about their true nature as Toth actually wanted to split Buffy into two; one as her Slayer side and the other powerless which, because if one duplicate would die so would the other, making her easier to kill and meaning both Xanders could have died. Xander was returned back into one being, and Xander discovered that the real reason why one of them was so ambitious and fortunate was that it was his true potential.

However, as Riley helped Xander move out of the basement, Riley revealed to Xander that he knew Buffy didn't love him. Xander kept Riley’s words a secret until he confronted Buffy, who was left with an ultimatum after she discovered Riley was secretly paying vampires to bite him for the rush (as he felt neglected by her). Riley told Buffy that he would be leaving her to rejoin the military.

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Xander becomes completely open and honest about his feelings toward Anya.

After Buffy killed Riley’s vampire clients, Xander came and told her that it was because she largely treated Riley as a rebound from Angel and asked her if she really wanted a serious relationship. She did but was too late and Riley left. Because of Buffy’s experience, Xander made it known that he fully appreciated his relationship with Anya, and how she made him feel like an adult.

Xander, however, later became the center of a conflict between Anya and Willow who had disagreements about running Giles' shop The Magic Box when he temporarily left it to them. Anya was suspicious of Willow's feelings for Xander despite the fact she discovered she was gay a year before while Willow became irritated by Anya's personality. This led to them accidentally summoning Anya's ex-boyfriend and now troll, Olaf, who rampaged through the streets of Sunnydale. Xander tried to rescue the girls but was easily overpowered and was forced to choose between them. Luckily, Buffy came, having grown emotionally respondent from Xander and Anya's relationship, and defeated Olaf before he was taken out of this dimension.

Xander and Anya look at Buffy's body after she sacrificed herself.

Shortly before going into battle with the hell-goddess Glory, Xander asked Anya to marry him should they survive, and she accepted. During the battle, Xander acted as one of the many pillars to weaken Glory. As Buffy temporarily lost Olaf's mystical hammer (acquired to use against Glory after his defeat), Xander used his skills as the "glorified bricklayer" against Glory by employing and operating a wrecking ball to keep her off her feet. Even though Glory was defeated, the portal to her dimension was opened via the blood of Buffy's sister Dawn, causing strings of lightning bolts to spark which made a load of wreckage fall onto Xander, but he was saved by Anya, who pushed him out of the way and took the damage. Xander later carried an injured yet living Anya just before the dead body of Buffy (who closed the portal by sacrificing herself).

Unready engagement

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Xander agrees to help Willow bring Buffy back from the grave.

For months after Buffy's death, Xander aided Willow, Tara and the Buffybot look after Dawn in her sister's absence. Xander had doubts about his future with Anya and didn't want her to announce their engagement during such a time when they were recovering from their loss. Xander hesitantly joined in Willow's spell to resurrect Buffy despite having deep doubts about it.

As the spell was successful, Xander announced the engagement during Halloween after seeing that everyone was happy after a strenuous day working at the Magic Box (with it being the appropriately themed holiday), letting it slip while watching Anya’s “Dance of Capitalist Superiority”. Xander also tried to help Buffy find a job by letting her try her hand at his construction site, making use of her superhuman strength. However, that only caused trouble for him when Buffy was attacked by a bunch of demons summoned by The Trio.

Xander and Anya announce their engagement.

Hoping for a happy ending, Xander summoned the demon Sweet to turn Sunnydale into a living musical, which went horribly wrong when people started bursting into flames as well as singing their feelings out. During that period, Xander and Anya both expressed their love and excitement over their upcoming marriage while also revealing each other's flaws. Buffy also revealed that — while dead — she was actually in what she believed was heaven. and her return to life was hell by contrast. Buffy then began a secret affair with Spike which Xander failed to notice despite some heavy indication when she was briefly turned invisible, having nearly caught them in the act during that period.

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Xander remains oblivious to Buffy and Spike's ongoing affair.

Xander and Anya showed both excitement and frustration on their upcoming wedding, as they both learned to Waltz while arguing about preparations, which became resolved after being given advice from Riley and his new wife Sam during a visit to Sunnydale in order to kill a demon. They concluded that they feared their wedding, not their marriage. Xander, however, was still unsure. His fears over marrying Anya were made worse during their wedding by a visit from a man who claimed to be his future self, showing him a bitter future trapped in a marriage similar to that of his parents. In reality, this man was Stewart Burns, who had been turned into a demon by Anya and was seeking vengeance from her. Although the vision was also revealed to be false, Xander became more conscious of the doubts he was already having, especially seeing his drunken father abuse Xander's mother and insult Anya's demonic "family". To avoid hurting Anya, he decided to call off the wedding, leaving a heartbroken Anya at the altar.

Xander decides he doesn't want to repeat his parents' marriage and leaves Anya at the altar.

Xander then fled to a hotel for the night before returning to his apartment where he drowned his sorrows in beer and music. Xander attempted to fix things with Anya as he still loved her. However, Anya returned to the vengeance fold and tried to have Xander's friends make wishes against him. Failing to do so, Anya became drunk with Spike and subsequently had sex with him. Discovering them in the act, Xander attacked and very nearly killed him in a jealous rage, but abandoned those plans out of anger and disgust when he and the other Scoobies discovered that Buffy and Spike had been sleeping together behind their backs for quite some time.

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Xander drowns his sorrows.

When Spike subsequently attempted to rape Buffy, Xander was infuriated, and later realized that Buffy had not told them about her relationship with Spike because she knew that Xander would react as he had. After a peaceful conversation, Xander subsequently made amends with Buffy.
Meanwhile, Tara was fatally shot by Warren Mears, who was trying to kill Buffy. Xander blamed himself for both that and Willow’s subsequent turn to the dark side, remarking that he had seen Warren’s gun before he raised it and was merely frozen with fear while he shot both Buffy and Tara. Xander supported Willow’s intentions to kill Warren in revenge until she actually did so.

Xander saves the world by stopping Willow with the power of love.

Willow attempted to destroy the world, and as Buffy was unable to stop her, Xander came to Willow, claiming if the world were to end he would be by her side. Even as Willow attacked him, Xander simply refused to leave her and said that he still loved her — which managed to return her to her senses and restore her humanity.

The one who sees

“They'll never know how tough it is, Dawnie. To be the one who isn't chosen. To live so near to the spotlight and never step in it. But I know. I see more than anybody realizes because...nobody's watching me. I saw you last night. I see you working here today. You're not special. You're extraordinary.”

―Xander

Xander shows Buffy the blueprints of the new Sunnydale High School.

The following year, Xander looked after Dawn along with Buffy while Willow was away in England for rehabilitation with Giles. He continued a steady career in construction where he was one of the workers who built the new Sunnydale High. This allowed him access to a map of the restored school where Dawn attended that year so she could avoid any supernatural occurrences though this did not stop Dawn from encountering a group of evil manifestations on her first day which Xander defeated by destroying their talisman.

As the remaining Scoobies came into contact with a still-demonic Anya, Xander struggled over his feelings for her. He protested to the notion of Buffy killing Anya after she had a group of frat boys killed, believing there was still a chance to redeem her even though Anya didn't believe it herself. He warned Anya of Buffy's intentions but Anya nevertheless fought back until her boss D'Hoffryn intervened, having been summoned by a recovering Willow. In order to revive the frat boys, Anya was stripped of her powers once more and she and Xander finally broke up for good, despite admitting that they still loved each other, though they did continue to have the odd fling in times of crisis.

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Xander and Anya mutually decide to ends things once and for all.

Xander played an active role during Buffy's conflict against the First Evil and his attempt at ending the Slayer line by murdering all Potential Slayers in Buffy's protection. It was his job in construction that provided Buffy an arena to fight the near-invincible Turok-Han vampire in order to provide an example towards the Potentials. Dawn mistakenly believed herself to be a Potential Slayer, Xander empathized with her disappointment at not being the one in the spotlight, while also praising her initiative when she encouraged the actual Potential Amanda to follow her destiny.

Xander helps Dawn understand their part in all this, as well as his admiration toward her.

Xander had his left eye gouged out by the evil preacher Caleb, and began wearing an eye patch. Despite his insistence on fighting side-by-side with Buffy, Xander was pleaded to drive himself and Dawn out of Sunnydale as the two of them were the most vulnerable. He had to have her chloroformed as she couldn't be negotiated with but ended up being tasered unconscious and driven back to the Summer's home by Dawn herself.

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During their fight with Caleb, Xander's eye is gouged out.

In the final battle against the First Evil, Xander fought alongside Dawn while Anya was killed by a Bringer's sword, and her body remained in the new Sunnydale High's ruins as the empty town was swallowed by the earth. Andrew Wells, whom she had fought alongside, comforted Xander by saying that Anya had died saving his life. Xander replied by saying "That's my girl. Always doing the stupid thing."

Watcher

Xander as Dracula's manservant.

Following Sunnydale's destruction, Xander took a "leave of absence" from the Scooby Gang to mourn Anya's death. He spent some time in Africa, and eventually reunited with Dracula. Falling under his thrall again, 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 provided each other company and Xander taught Dracula how to ride a motorcycle. 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.

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 via computer screens and earpieces. Xander became a confidante to Dawn after she was turned into a giant by her Thricewise ex-boyfriend Kenny; she admitted to only Xander that Kenny cursed her because she slept with his roommate Nick. Xander also began a flirtatious relationship with a Slayer named Renee, eventually asking her out on a date.

Xander leads the Slayer Organizations beside Buffy.

When the Scoobies came under attack from Japanese vampires with unusual powers, Xander reluctantly recruited his former master Dracula as an ally to help bring them down. In Tokyo, the Slayers confronted the vampires, and Renee was brutally killed by the leader, Toru. Dracula protected a grief-stricken Xander during the battle and fought Toru, but handed the killing blow over to Xander, who beheaded him. Afterward, Xander scattered Renee's ashes and told Dracula that he would no longer be the vampire's manservant.

Dawn's bizarre mystical transformations continued when she turned into a centaur; Xander assured her she looked "awesome" as a centaur and even rode her to safety when their Scotland base came under attack from the Twilight Group. When she was finally released from her transformation curse by Kenny, she and Xander realized they had developed romantic feelings for one another and began a relationship in private. This relationship was eventually discovered by a devastated Buffy, who admitted that she too was now attracted to Xander. Buffy tried to explain her feelings to Xander, but he gently dismissed them as her need for connection and informed her that he was in love with her sister.

Xander and Dawn get closer while caught up in a war.

When the apocalypse, known as Twilight, threatened the existence of the entire universe, Xander suggested to Dawn that if they survived, the pair of them get an apartment together and live a normal life. Dawn was later injured by a demon inside the crater that was once Sunnydale; Xander carried her to safety and accepted medical help from their enemy, the General. The General observed that Xander and Dawn were ordinary people caught up in a magical war that wasn't theirs, leading Xander to believe they wouldn't survive. After she and Xander witnessed Giles die, Buffy finally defeated Twilight by smashing the Seed of Wonder but severed Earth's connection to magic in the process.

As a dazed Angel awoke from his possession, completely ignorant of his killing of Giles, Xander flew into a murderous rage. He violently assaulted him and punched him multiple times, too far gone into irrational fury to listen to Angel's vain explanations of being taken over by Twilight. Xander grabbed the scythe and prepared to stake him, permanently ending his existence. However, Buffy quickly intervened and prevented him from killing Angel much to his indignation. As a tearful Buffy pleaded to him that she didn't want to lose anyone else especially Xander himself by crossing a line, he backed down and relented. As the feeling of despair and loss overcame them, they both gazed sadly at Giles' dead body.

World without magic

Xander and Dawn live together in San Francisco.

With magic cut off from the world, the Slayer organization disbanded and the Scoobies returned to relatively normal lives. As they had planned, Xander and Dawn moved into an apartment together in San Francisco, with Xander resuming his career in construction. As time passed by, Xander struggled with his retirement into normalcy for the most part. He helped Buffy who was earlier caught by the cops and briefly came out of retirement to help Robert Dowling against the zompire version of his partner Miranda Cheung, giving the policemen advice by referring to the first vampire he staked, his friend Jesse. Xander spent time with Buffy at his house, rekindling their friendship that was previously somewhat distant during most of the year. He had even playfully, along with Dawn, teased her about the cop Dowling and over whether or not she liked him.

However, this moment of peace and enjoyment was soon broken. Dawn's health continued to deteriorate, much to his distress. Eventually, his girlfriend suddenly passed out. Immediately, Xander transported her to the hospital to have her treated. Much to his confusion, the doctor claimed she fell into a coma but he could see nothing wrong with her at all. Soon after, Buffy, Andrew, and Illyria finally arrive. It didn't take very long to figure out what was wrong with her. Xander and Buffy were horrified to realize the end of magic was the cause of this, Illyria elaborating by the shocking truth of Dawn's essence fading away because of her former status as The Key. In other words, she was on the way to her death and nothing could stop it.

Later, at Andrew's apartment, Buffy followed him out on the balcony to comfort him over what was happening. Unfortunately for her, Xander's patience with her had broken entirely by that point. Fed up with everything, he let out all of his hidden resentment and anger towards his friend. He blamed Buffy for Dawn's condition, and she defended herself saying that the destruction of the Seed was the only choice she had. He proceeded to say she's to blame because she had sex with Angel and created Twilight in the first place. Still not willing to hear her excuses or explanations, she reminded him that Dawn was her sister and she wouldn't give up on her.After her failed attempts to get help, Buffy once again attempted to persuade him that, to save Dawn, they had to work together. Xander was still furious and unforgiving with her, to the point he refused to talk to her directly. As Andrew "translated" for him, when she reiterated that Dawn's life being threatened was not her fault, Xander angrily stormed out of the apartment, sick of Buffy's indifference.

While living in San Francisco, Dawn grows very ill.

He reflected on how all he had done was "watch" the people he loved constantly dying in front of him, never being able to do anything to help. Xander struggled with his sense of helplessness as he saw Dawn fading out of a photograph he was carrying, remembering that he had stayed out of supernatural affairs to keep her safe. Suddenly, he was teleported to the location of Severin and Simone Doffler. Immediately on the defensive, he was about to attack Simone until she pulled out a gun. Simone and Severin express an awareness of what was happening to Dawn. Severin began to manipulate Xander to help them and in return, they will help him save her. He told him that he wanted to save his own deceased girlfriend he had to kill because of the end of magic and that, thanks to Illyria's powers, he could prevent Twilight from ever happening, in doing so prevent Giles' death, save Dawn, and all the other ill effects the destruction of the seed caused. In a moment of weakness, Xander asked him what it was he had to do. Severin explained all he needed him to do was steal the Vampyr book and that was it. Xander became suspicious and uncertain, questioning if they intended to kill Buffy. He assured him he didn't and all he wanted was the book.

Despite his uncertainty and great reluctance to betray Buffy, Xander was heavily tempted by the prospect of reversing Twilight and saving Dawn's life. Having reached his limit in the constant level of uselessness he had been feeling for years, Xander made the crucial decision to side with Simone and Severin and ultimately betray Buffy's trust as a result. Having had Simone beat him up to make it seem like he rejected their proposition, Xander was teleported on the street where Buffy happened to be.

Despite his intentions, he had told her the truth about what they had wanted with him. He was clearly angered and annoyed when she has assumed he would betray her to stop Twilight from happening for a minute, though claimed that he did remember Buffy's sacrifice for Dawn's life and that he could not betray her with that knowledge. Xander continued to feed her information about Severin and their interest in the Vampyr book. Eventually, when Willow managed to make Dawn conscious and they formed a plan to go to the Deeper Well in England to charge her up, he had been persistent in going. His girlfriend had begged him to stay with her and that they didn't need his help, but Xander explained they could not save her and only he could when his plan was going into motion so therefore he had to go.

File:The core comic xander buffy.jpg

Buffy and Xander.

Reaching the Deeper Well with the other Scoobies, Severin and Simone were seen to be aware of what Buffy's plans were as Xander had already told them. Along with Buffy and Willow, the three stood up against Illyria's mystical council. While Buffy and Willow fought against the council demons, Xander stood on the sidelines, texting Simone and Severin information. They were insisting they needed him to buy more time. Before Xander could think of something, he was attacked by a powerful demon. Buffy and the others quickly came to his rescue. As Buffy and Willow came up with a plan to move forward, Xander protested, arguing that they would die if they did. When they still did not change their minds, Xander panicked. Unable to watch his friends run blindly in an unnecessary battle, Xander spilled everything he had done with Severin and Simone to reverse Twilight and save Dawn. Buffy was the most affected his betrayal, angry and hurt. Everyone reaching a unanimous vote that it was Xander's fault, the group steeled themselves to stop Severin since what he was doing would create tears in the reality and end the world.

While Buffy and Willow journeyed deeper into the Well, Xander was left on the sidelines since his friends no longer trusted him. Just then, he received a phone call. Xander answered the phone angrily, only to be surprised to realize that it was Spike who called him. While semi-snarking with each other, Spike informed him that Simone's secret plan all along was to form an army of slayer-turned-zompires (or as Xander called them, "slaypires") to rise up against Buffy and everyone else. When Spike told him of Dawn's form starting to disappear as well as his own memories of her beginning to go, Xander ordered the vampire to put her on the phone. Dawn expressed her confusion and fear of her condition, while Xander tried to comfort her and told her that whatever happened, she would always be in his heart.

Armed with Spike's information, Xander sought to find Buffy. He quickly found her, only for them to both come across the dead body of renegade slayer Simone near the coffin of an Old One. He told her of Simone's plan and while Buffy still regarded him with hostility, she chose to believe him. While Buffy attempted to decapitate Simone, she suddenly woke up as a zompire and attacked them both.

As Buffy's fight raged on with Simone, Xander grew increasingly impatient and tried to attack her many times. He was especially angry when Simone told him she never intended to help him with Dawn. Quickly, she dispatched him and pushed him off a ledge. However, Xander was saved by Willow. Turning his attention back to the fight, Xander was horrified to see an unconscious Buffy held limply by her scythe, Simone having severely overpowered in her moment of distraction.

Personality

“Sorry. Joking in the face of death. I do that.”

―Xander

Xander, the cheeky teenager.

Xander's most notable character trait was his sarcastic, flippant attitude and sardonic views on life. He often joked in serious situations or when someone made what was intended to be a dramatic statement which is usually unnecessary. He frequently quipped about school his family, and his romantic life; in the case of the former two, this appeared to be a cover of his dislike for both. He was scared of failing his friends as well as not making something of himself, as indicated by his dreams when he continually returned to his basement.

Xander's hidden feelings of being a failure in the eyes of his loved ones and never being able to help them enough continued to build more and more throughout the years. While Dawn was on her way to her death, he bitterly reflected that all he has ever done is "watch". He had never been able to truly save his friends when it really mattered, causing a deep-rooted self-loathing and inferiority complex. This escalated to the point that he had decided to betray Buffy by teaming up with Severin to undo Twilight, unable to sit back and watch anymore if there was a possibility he could do something about it. Additionally, even after he got over his crush on Buffy, Xander continued to show obvious jealousy of Buffy's boyfriends, the only exception being Riley, with whom he formed a friendship.

Although Xander was often laid-back and easygoing, he could overreact in certain situations and lose his temper. He also had a frequent tendency to quip against his foes with the most ridiculous choice of words, often finding something insulting to say. He was usually comically surprised and angry during one of the rare occasions he could not think of one. Being protective by nature towards his friends, especially Buffy and Willow, Xander was very loyal to friends who he viewed as family. When Willow was kidnapped, a furious Xander told Buffy he would kill her if Willow got hurt; after Spike attempted to rape Buffy, Xander remained openly hostile and distrustful of him even after learning that he had regained his soul, certain for some time that Spike would attempt to do so again at the first opportunity. Xander had also nearly staked Angel when he had snapped Giles' neck under the possession of Twilight, stopped only because of Buffy's interference.

He would speak his mind on issues involving his friends and be always willing to stand by and fight for them when necessary. Xander was very forward and brutally blunt when it came to expressing his opinion, never afraid to speak out and tell his friends if they're doing something wrong, making him very opinionated; this has caused him to clash and argue with his friends many times, especially Buffy.

File:Replacement256.jpg

Quirky Xander does his Scooby dance for Willow.

Despite not being supernatural, Xander became more brave and courageous and was quite useful. Another notable trait of Xander, unlike his best friend Willow, was his tendency to hold grudges. It usually took him a very long time to let things go, especially in the case of murderers. He could be very judgmental and critical of others to an extreme, even if he was no better. Xander always swallows his pride and decide to let it go and trust them. Xander does see the good or best in people whether he trust them or not. He is very loyal to the group. Mostly he usually the straight man to the group.

Xander is Christian, had a fixation on the Chinese actress Amy Yip, and his astrological zodiac sign was Capricorn.

Powers and abilities

“You're the one who sees everything, aren't you? Well, let's see what we can do about that.”

―Caleb

File:622 Grave.jpg

Xander's love and loyalty for his friends is his true power.

Xander demonstrates that even an "average" person can make a difference and save the world. He never developed any permanent superpowers of his own but gained much experience from battling by Buffy's side. As Buffy explains to the Watchers Council, Xander had "clocked more field time" than all other Watchers combined. His gifts of persuasion and empathy were often his most useful assets. For example, Xander saved the world from Dark Willow, using only his words. He also recognized that Buffy and Riley were "imploding" and forced Buffy to accept responsibility for the failed relationship.

While possessed by a hyena spirit through a Primal ritual, Xander exhibited enhanced strength, heightened senses, as well as predatory instincts, a taste for fresh raw meat, and a lack of social inhibitions. He lost all of these capabilities when the spirit was exorcised; while he retained his memories of this experience, he kept it secret from everyone except Giles.

Xander was briefly transformed into a soldier under the effect of the Ritual of Janus, and thereby acquired knowledge of military training, tactics, codes, and weapons handling techniques, enabling him to steal and use a rocket launcher to destroy the Judge, and later to organize and lead a group defense against Mayor Wilkins after his Ascension to Olvikan was completed.

File:S2 Halloween Xander Soldier.jpg

Due to the Halloween curse that turned him into a soldier, Xander gained knowledge that helped Buffy in several missions.

These skills slowly decayed by his own admission, and he was later unable to decipher Riley's military hand-signs while on patrol. While he also demonstrated knowledge of the First's hypnotic control over Spike, he claimed this was just from seeing military films and not from his "army days".

Through the Ferula Gemina, Xander had his personality temporally split into two different beings. One Xander possessed Xander's more aggressive traits, such as his courage and confidence, easily getting a promotion and a large apartment, in addition to some of Xander's impetuous qualities and impatience. The other Xander possessed his more passive traits, including his sense of humor and fun, in addition to being highly insecure and paranoid, believing his double to be a demon who was hypnotizing his friends and trying to steal his life. However, both Xander's were both fiercely protective of Anya. Shortly before Willow fused them back together, they showed the same quirks, causing Giles to proclaim him "a bad influence on himself."

Even if his long-term strategy skills deteriorated with his military expertise, he retained an expert ability to think on the fly, mostly relating to talking to others in stressful situations. He managed to convince Jack to not blow up the school (which would, unknown to Jack, doom the world due to the Hellmouth opening that night) with nothing other than his words and threatened both Angel and Angelus into complete submission; even if he didn’t have the skills to back up those threats, Angelus, in particular, realized that Xander could lead the people around him, even those that didn’t know him, against him if he attacked. Additionally, his decision to hit Glory with the wrecking ball was not in the original plan and Giles even came to depend on his skills to talk Dark Willow down, which he did by relying on memory all the way back in kindergarten.

Xander was something of an expert on pop culture; he read X-Men comics and referenced both the Human Torch and Nick Fury. Xander displayed the ability to read Klingon. He often demonstrated pop culture knowledge rivaling Andrew's. Xander became a skilled carpenter, gaining practical job experience from repairing damage caused by various conflicts involving the Scooby Gang (most notably the windows at Buffy's house; Xander complained he was doomed to replace their windows for all eternity) and as a foreman of a construction crew. Spike mockingly referred to Xander as "a glorified bricklayer."

Caleb noted that Xander was "the one that sees everything", including his friends' flaws and strengths, more clearly than anyone else, simply because no one was looking at him. Dawn suggested this may be his superpower. This human (non-supernatural) strength — his insight, empathy, and understanding — was what prompted Caleb to take Xander's eye, also knowing it would incite Buffy's wrath. Xander also showed he was a skilled archer: he impaled Caleb's hand with an arrow from a distance.

Xander used his military knowledge to lead a paramilitary group of Slayers, witches, and seers based in a Scottish castle, viewed from outside as an international "terrorist" organization. The organization which he and Buffy headed employed high-tech and magical weaponry. Xander oversaw and orchestrated the efforts of Willow, Dawn, Buffy, and his Slayers through cameras and earpieces. He again displayed a broad knowledge of warfare and military operations by instructing the Slayers in the use of various modern weapons and basic strategy.

He has excellent detective skills. Mostly he can figure out or work or successfully come up with great ideas when he works with the gang. He is very loyal to the group and is willing to take a bullet for his friends. When he started out, he and Willow were labeled as outsiders and geeks. Working with Buffy and Giles and researching and fighting off Vampires prove to be everybody that he could do more out there than anyone.

Relationships

A recurring joke about Xander was that he was a "demon magnet," as many of the women he had dated or been attracted to have turned out to be demonic or in some other way supernatural.

Gallery

The Alexander Harris article has a Photo Gallery.

Behind the scenes

• He was portrayed by Nicholas Brendon, while Kelly Donovan occasionally appeared as his double. He was also dubbed by Daniel Taylor in Season Eight Motion Comic.
• When Brendon was cast for the role of Xander after, according to Joss Whedon, he asked if "anybody feel like shawarma? I feel like some shawarma". Whedon has described "shawarma" as "the word that probably changed your [Brendon's] life", and used the very same quotation as Tony Stark's line in the Avengers film.
• Brendon was told by producers to stop working out because they didn't want Xander "looking too buffed."^{[citation needed]}
• Joss Whedon discussed with Brendon and Sarah Michelle Gellar the idea of Buffy and Xander ending up together at the end of the final season, which the actors reportedly agreed. Gellar has stated she believes Joss Whedon's original intention was "was to put Xander and Buffy together. I really do believe that."^{[citation needed]}
• Joss Whedon has likened Xander's character to himself and had this to say: "Xander, I've always identified as the figure I most was like, 'cause he did have that inability to sort of... talk to the girl and come through in the big moment. And he does make an idiot of himself a lot. Of course, he's a lot prettier and more muscular than anybody who acts like that should be but this is television, so, get over it."
• Joss Whedon briefly described Xander in the shooting script for "Welcome to the Hellmouth": "Weaving along the road. On it is XANDER, dressed with the shaggy indifference common to skateboarders. He is bright, funny, and will one day be suave and handsome. Till that day arrives, he'll do the best he can with bright and funny." 
• Along with Buffy, Willow, Giles, and Angel, he is one of only five characters to appear in both the pilot ("Welcome to the Hellmouth") and series finale of Buffy ("Chosen").
• Xander was a regular in every episode of every season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, with the exception of "Conversations with Dead People". He is the fourth character with the most appearances in the Buffyverse (143 episodes), after Angel (166), Willow (147) and Buffy (146).
• Ryan Reynolds was offered the role of Xander but passed on because he "didn't want to play a guy in high school. I had just come out of high school and it was f------ awful." Sarah Michelle Gellar herself refused to believe this when she was told during a Buffy trivia test promoted by SheKnows.com in 2016.^{[citation needed]}
• Danny Strong auditioned for the role of Xander prior to being cast as Jonathan.{{cite}

Appearances

Canonical

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 1
"Welcome to the Hellmouth" Appears	"The Harvest" Appears	"Witch" Appears	"Teacher's Pet" Appears	"Never Kill a Boy on the First Date" Appears	"The Pack" Appears	"Angel" Appears	"I Robot, You Jane" Appears	"The Puppet Show" Appears	"Nightmares" Appears	"Out of Mind, Out of Sight" Appears	"Prophecy Girl" Appears

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 2
"When She Was Bad" Appears	"Some Assembly Required" Appears	"School Hard" Appears	"Inca Mummy Girl" Appears	"Reptile Boy" Appears	"Halloween" Appears	"Lie to Me" Appears	"The Dark Age" Appears	"What's My Line? Part One" Appears	"What's My Line? Part Two" Appears	"Ted" Appears
"Bad Eggs" Appears	"Surprise" Appears	"Innocence" Appears	"Phases" Appears	"Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" Appears	"Passion" Appears	"Killed by Death" Appears	"I Only Have Eyes for You" Appears	"Go Fish" Appears	"Becoming, Part One" Appears	"Becoming, Part Two" Appears

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 3
"Anne" Appears	"Dead Man's Party" Appears	"Faith, Hope & Trick" Appears	"Beauty and the Beasts" Appears	"Homecoming" Appears	"Band Candy" Appears	"Revelations" Appears	"Lovers Walk" Appears	"The Wish" Appears	"Amends" Appears	"Gingerbread" Appears
"Helpless" Appears	"The Zeppo" Appears	"Bad Girls" Appears	"Consequences" Appears	"Doppelgängland" Appears	"Enemies" Appears	"Earshot" Appears	"Choices" Appears	"The Prom" Appears	"Graduation Day, Part One" Appears	"Graduation Day, Part Two" Appears

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 4
"The Freshman" Appears	"Living Conditions" Appears	"The Harsh Light of Day" Appears	"Fear, Itself" Appears	"Beer Bad" Appears	"Wild at Heart" Appears	"The Initiative" Appears	"Pangs" Appears	"Something Blue" Appears	"Hush" Appears	"Doomed" Appears
"A New Man" Appears	"The I in Team" Appears	"Goodbye Iowa" Appears	"This Year's Girl" Appears	"Who Are You?" Appears	"Superstar" Appears	"Where the Wild Things Are" Appears	"New Moon Rising" Appears	"The Yoko Factor" Appears	"Primeval" Appears	"Restless" Appears

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 5
"Buffy vs. Dracula" Appears	"Real Me" Appears	"The Replacement" Appears	"Out of My Mind" Appears	"No Place Like Home" Appears	"Family" Appears	"Fool for Love" Appears	"Shadow" Appears	"Listening to Fear" Appears	"Into the Woods" Appears	"Triangle" Appears
"Checkpoint" Appears	"Blood Ties" Appears	"Crush" Appears	"I Was Made to Love You" Appears	"The Body" Appears	"Forever" Appears	"Intervention" Appears	"Tough Love" Appears	"Spiral" Appears	"The Weight of the World" Appears	"The Gift" Appears

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 6
"Bargaining, Part One" Appears	"Bargaining, Part Two" Appears	"After Life" Appears	"Flooded" Appears	"Life Serial" Appears	"All the Way" Appears	"Once More, with Feeling" Appears	"Tabula Rasa" Appears	"Smashed" Appears	"Wrecked" Appears	"Gone" Appears
"Doublemeat Palace" Appears	"Dead Things" Appears	"Older and Far Away" Appears	"As You Were" Appears	"Hell's Bells" Appears	"Normal Again" Appears	"Entropy" Appears	"Seeing Red" Appears	"Villains" Appears	"Two to Go" Appears	"Grave" Appears

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 7
"Lessons" Appears	"Beneath You" Appears	"Same Time, Same Place" Appears	"Help" Appears	"Selfless" Appears	"Him" Appears	"Conversations with Dead People" Absent	"Sleeper" Appears	"Never Leave Me" Appears	"Bring on the Night" Appears	"Showtime" Appears
"Potential" Appears	"The Killer in Me" Appears	"First Date" Appears	"Get It Done" Appears	"Storyteller" Appears	"Lies My Parents Told Me" Appears	"Dirty Girls" Appears	"Empty Places" Appears	"Touched" Appears	"End of Days" Appears	"Chosen" Appears

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Origin
The Origin, Part 1 Absent	The Origin, Part 2 Absent	The Origin, Part 3 Appears

Tales
"Prologue" Absent	"Righteous" Absent	"The Innocent" Absent	"Presumption" Absent	"The Glittering World" Absent	"Sonnenblume" Absent	"Nikki Goes Down!" Absent	"Tales" Absent
Broken Bottle of Djinn Absent	Tales of the Vampires Absent		"Father" Absent	"Spot the Vampire" Absent	"Dust Bowl" Absent	"Jack" Absent	"Stacy" Absent
"Some Like It Hot" Absent	"The Problem with Vampires" Absent	"Taking Care of Business" Absent	"Dames" Absent	"Antique" Appears	"Numb" Absent	The Thrill Absent	"Carpe Noctem" Absent

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8
The Long Way Home, Part 1 Appears	The Long Way Home, Part 2 Appears	The Long Way Home, Part 3 Appears	The Long Way Home, Part 4 Appears	The Chain Absent	No Future for You, Part 1 Appears	No Future for You, Part 2 Absent	No Future for You, Part 3 Absent	No Future for You, Part 4 Appears	Anywhere but Here Appears
A Beautiful Sunset Appears	Wolves at the Gate, Part 1 Appears	Wolves at the Gate, Part 2 Appears	Wolves at the Gate, Part 3 Appears	Wolves at the Gate, Part 4 Appears	Time of Your Life, Part 1 Appears	Time of Your Life, Part 2 Appears	Time of Your Life, Part 3 Appears	Time of Your Life, Part 4 Appears	After These Messages... We'll Be Right Back! Appears
Harmonic Divergence Appears	Swell Appears	Predators and Prey Appears	Safe Absent	Living Doll Appears	Retreat, Part 1 Appears	Retreat, Part 2 Appears	Retreat, Part 3 Appears	Retreat, Part 4 Appears	Retreat, Part 5 Appears
Turbulence Appears	Twilight, Part 1 Appears	Twilight, Part 2 Appears	Twilight, Part 3 Appears	Twilight, Part 4 Appears	Last Gleaming, Part 1 Appears	Last Gleaming, Part 2 Appears	Last Gleaming, Part 3 Appears	Last Gleaming, Part 4 Appears	Last Gleaming, Part 5 Appears
"HARM" Absent	"Harmony Bites" Absent	"Vampy Cat Play Friend" Absent	"Always Darkest" Appears	"Harmony Comes to the Nation" Absent		Willow: Goddesses and Monsters Absent		Riley: Commitment Through Distance, Virtue Through Sin Absent

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 9
"Magical Mystery Tour, Featuring the Beetles" Appears	Freefall, Part 1 Appears	Freefall, Part 2 Appears	Freefall, Part 3 Appears	Freefall, Part 4 Appears	Slayer, Interrupted Vision	On Your Own, Part 1 Absent	On Your Own, Part 2 Absent	Apart (of Me), Part 1 Appears	Apart (of Me), Part 2 Appears	Apart (of Me), Part 3 Mention
"In Space No One Can Hear You Slay" Appears	Guarded, Part 1 Mention	Guarded, Part 2 Mention	Guarded, Part 3 Mention	Billy the Vampire Slayer, Part 1 Absent	Billy the Vampire Slayer, Part 2 Absent	Wonderland, Part 1 Flashback	Wonderland, Part 2 Vision	Wonderland, Part 3 Vision	Wonderland, Part 4 Vision	Wonderland, Part 5 Absent
Welcome to the Team, Part 1 Appears	Welcome to the Team, Part 2 Appears	Welcome to the Team, Part 3 Appears	Welcome to the Team, Part 4 Appears	The Watcher Appears	The Core, Part 1 Appears	The Core, Part 2 Appears	The Core, Part 3 Appears	The Core, Part 4 Appears	The Core, Part 5 Appears	Love vs. Life Absent

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 10
New Rules, Part 1 Appears	New Rules, Part 2 Appears	New Rules, Part 3 Appears	New Rules, Part 4 Appears	New Rules, Part 5 Appears	I Wish, Part 1 Appears	I Wish, Part 2 Appears	Return to Sunnydale, Part 1 Appears	Return to Sunnydale, Part 2 Mention	Day Off (or Harmony in My Head) Appears
Love Dares You, Part 1 Appears	Love Dares You, Part 2 Appears	Love Dares You, Part 3 Appears	Relationship Status: Complicated, Part 1 Appears	Relationship Status: Complicated, Part 2 Appears	Old Demons, Part 1 Appears	Old Demons, Part 2 Appears	Old Demons, Part 3 Appears	Freaky Giles Day Appears	Triggers Appears
In Pieces on the Ground, Part 1 Absent	In Pieces on the Ground, Part 2 Mention	In Pieces on the Ground, Part 3 Appears	In Pieces on the Ground, Part 4 Appears	In Pieces on the Ground, Part 5 Appears	Own It, Part 1 Appears	Own It, Part 2 Appears	Own It, Part 3 Appears	Own It, Part 4 Appears	Own It, Part 5 Appears
"Where Are They Now?" Absent

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 11
The Spread of Their Evil Appears	In Time of Crisis Appears	A House Divided Appears	Desperate Times Absent	Desperate Measures Absent	Back to the Wall Absent	Disempowered Mention	Ordinary People Appears
The Great Escape Appears	Crimes Against Nature Appears	Revelations Appears	One Girl in All the World Appears	Girl Blue, Part 1 Absent	Girl Blue, Part 2 Absent	Girl Blue, Part 3 Absent	Girl Blue, Part 4 Absent

Angel

Angel: Season 1
"City Of" Absent	"Lonely Heart" Absent	"In the Dark" Absent	"I Fall to Pieces" Absent	"Rm w/a Vu" Absent	"Sense & Sensitivity" Absent	"The Bachelor Party" Mention	"I Will Remember You" Absent	"Hero" Absent	"Parting Gifts" Absent	"Somnambulist" Absent
"Expecting" Absent	"She" Absent	"I've Got You Under My Skin" Absent	"The Prodigal" Absent	"The Ring" Absent	"Eternity" Absent	"Five by Five" Absent	"Sanctuary" Absent	"War Zone" Absent	"Blind Date" Absent	"To Shanshu in L.A." Absent

Angel: Season 5
"Conviction" Absent	"Just Rewards" Absent	"Unleashed" Absent	"Hell Bound" Absent	"Life of the Party" Absent	"The Cautionary Tale of Numero Cinco" Absent	"Lineage" Absent	"Destiny" Absent	"Harm's Way" Absent	"Soul Purpose" Absent	"Damage" Mention
"You're Welcome" Absent	"Why We Fight" Absent	"Smile Time" Absent	"A Hole in the World" Absent	"Shells" Absent	"Underneath" Absent	"Origin" Absent	"Time Bomb" Absent	"The Girl in Question" Absent	"Power Play" Absent	"Not Fade Away" Absent

Other

• As one of the main characters in the franchise, Xander has also appeared in the majority of Buffy expanded universe material of unknown canonicity, including comic books, novels, and video games.