The Ferula Gemina was a magical rod device created and used by Toth. It had the power to split one individual into half, distilling personality traits into two separate bodies.
History
A sophisticated demon, Toth created the tool himself. The last ingredient to complete it being "pain", which he achieved by placing the device into a boiling cauldron with his bare hand.
He used the Ferula Gemina in an attempt to destroy Buffy Summers, but Xander Harris jumped in front of the blast and it separated him into two entities.
Effects
The effects of the Ferula Gemina on Xander.
The Ferula Gemina fired bolts of energy that physically split the personalities of any being that they hit into two separate entities, one with the strong qualities and one with the weak qualities. However, as the two beings were both "real" and technically one being, the death of one will kill the other.
The effects of the staff were both shown and explained:
- If Buffy had been hit by the bolt, she would have been split into two beings, one possessing all of the traits unique to Buffy Summers and the other possessing the traits unique to the Slayer alone; the Scoobies' assessment of this division was that "Slayer-Buffy" would have been virtually unkillable, but "Buffy-Buffy" would have been relatively easy to take out.
- When Xander was hit, his strong half demonstrated his more aggressive traits, such as his courage and confidence, effortlessly getting a promotion and a large apartment, in addition to his more impetuous qualities such as his impatience, while his weak half demonstrated his more passive qualities, such as his sense of humor and fun, in addition to being highly insecure and paranoid to the point where he believed that his other self was in fact a demon who was trying to steal his life and hypnotizing his friends with a shiny disc. Both Xanders, however, were highly protective of Anya.
Behind the Scenes
- "Ferula gemina" can be loosely translated to mean "Twinning Rod". Latin for Ferula is "rod" and Latin for "Gemina" is "double" or "Twin".
- If you look very closely at the prop rod you can see that it has a number of Latin Symbols on it.
