Changes: William Fordham

Revision as of 18:37, 21 August 2019

Ford: “I wanna be like you. A vampire.”

Spike: “I've known you for two minutes and I can't stand you. I don't really feature you living forever.”

— Ford and Spike^[src]

Billy Fordham, nicknamed Ford, was a student of Hemery High in Los Angeles and an old childhood friend of Buffy Summers.

Biography

“I'm sorry, Summers, did I screw up your righteous anger riff? Does the nest of tumors liquefying my brain kinda spoil the fun?”

―Billy Fordham^[src]

Hemery High

Buffy had a crush on Ford when she was in fifth grade and he was in sixth. By the time Buffy was expelled from Hemery High, Ford had figured out her identity as the Slayer, without Buffy realizing that he knew. Early on in the episode Billy establishes a familiarity with Buffy's past by citing anecdotes from their childhood. These include her habit of eating Oreos dunked in apple juice and her appearance in a 9th grade beauty contest and subsequent swimsuit competition.

Making a deal with Spike

In late 1997, Ford reentered Buffy's life and apparently enrolled in Sunnydale High for his senior year due to his father's transfer at work. However, in reality, Ford had made a deal with Buffy's newest enemy, Spike, to hand her over to him in exchange for being turned into a vampire.

Ford also became a regular at the Sunset Club, a naive group of teenage vampire worshippers who largely believed the vampire race to be misunderstood, gentle creatures. Unlike the rest of the vampire worshippers, Ford fully understood the nature of vampires and wanted to become one himself because he was suffering from terminal brain cancer and believed it would be better to live as a monster than to die riddled with tumors.

He devised a plan to trap Buffy in the club building (specially reinforced to prevent her from using her superhuman strength to escape), leaving her vulnerable to Spike and his minions. He also gather the other members of the Sunset Club at the event by making them believe that they would be turned as well, but they were merely fodder.

When Ford put his plan into motion, Buffy, simultaneously disgusted by his willingness to sacrifice innocent people and moved by his plight, attempted to convince him that vampires were nothing but demons inhabiting corpses rather than the original people, but Ford did not care. When Buffy tried to warn the others, Ford attacked her, but she quickly overpowered him and knocked him unconscious before proceeding to rescue the Sunset Club from Spike and his pack. However, she locked Ford in the building with the vampires. Ford then demanded that Spike turn him as he had technically fulfilled his end of the deal, and Spike agreed.

As a Vampire

Returning later to the Club, Buffy took Ford's lifeless body and had it buried. As she and Rupert Giles kept a vigil at his grave, Ford rose, a vampire, and Buffy staked him without reaction. Afterward, she asked Giles, "Does it get any easier?" He replied, "What do you want me to say?" Buffy answered, "Lie to me", which echoed the whole situation she had faced with regard to Ford's duplicity.

Behind the Scenes

He was portrayed by Jason Behr, who is also known for starring in the 2004 horror film The Grudge alongside Sarah Michelle Gellar.

Appearances

"Lie to Me"

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 [[Category:Spike]]
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-[[Category:Buffy Season 2 Characters]]
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