The Ferula Gemina was a magical rod device Toth created and used. It had the power to split one individual into half, distilling personality traits into two separate bodies.[1]
History[]
A sophisticated demon, Toth created the Ferula Gemina himself. The last ingredient to complete it being "pain," which he achieved by placing the device into a boiling cauldron with his bare hand.[1]
He used the Ferula Gemina in an attempt to destroy Buffy, but Xander jumped in front of the blast and it separated him into two entities.[1]
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 with different qualities from the original individual. However, as the two beings were both real and technically one being, the death of one would kill the other.[1]
When Xander was hit, one half demonstrated courage, confidence, and impatience, effortlessly getting a promotion and a large apartment. His second half demonstrated his sense of humor and fun, in addition to being highly insecure and paranoid; he believed the other half was a demon trying to steal his life and hypnotizing his friends with a shiny disk. Both Xander halves, however, were highly protective of his girlfriend Anya.[1]
Buffy speculated that, if she had been hit by the bolt, she would have been split into one being 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.[1]
Behind the scenes[]
- "Ferula gemina" can be loosely translated to mean "twinning rod"; "ferula" is Latin for "rod" and "gemina" is Latin for "double" or "twin."