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Revision as of 00:41, 9 July 2012
- “Harmony, when you tried to be head cheerleader, you were bad. When you tried to chair the homecoming committee, you were really bad. But when you try to be bad... you suck.”
- ―Buffy Summers[src]
Harmony Kendall was a former Sunnydale High student turned into a vampire, later Angel's secretary at Wolfram & Hart. Being one of the few people to escape before the Fall of Los Angeles, Harmony became an international celebrity with her reality show Harmony Bites.
Biography
Sunnydale High
Harmony attended Sunnydale High, where she was a member of Cordelia Chase's popular clique, the "Cordettes." Harmony often accompanied Cordelia Chase who formulated a disparaging opinion of Buffy after Cordelia blackened her possible popularity after a misunderstanding at the Bronze Nightclub, which Harmony was a witness to.
Harmony Kendall in Jenny Calendar's Computer Class
Harmony, along with Cordette leader Cordelia Chase and the rest of the nasty popular Cordettes, caused fellow Sunnydale High student Marcie Ross to become invisible by their negligence of her, which in turn caused her to believe she was invisible, and that state of mind, along with the ever-growing mystical energy emanated from the Hellmouth, caused her to actually become invisible. While invisible, Marcie attempted to kill Harmony as part of plot of vengeance against Cordelia. Marcie pushed Harmony down the High School Courtyard side-staircase in hopes of causing her to break her neck from the fall; however, Harmony only sprained her ankle as a result.
When Cordelia began dating Xander Harris, Harmony shunned her from their clique and usurped her position as leader of the group. After Cordelia and Xander's breakup, Harmony cruelly tricked Cordelia into thinking that she has been re-admitted into the clique, only to humiliate and reject her. After a vengeance demon granted Cordelia's wish that Buffy Summers had never arrived in Sunnydale, Harmony appeared in the alternate, hellish reality as a more subdued version of herself, again a follower of Cordelia's "Cordettes."
Vampire
- “Harmony's a vampire? She must be dying without a reflection.”
- ―Buffy Summers[src]
Harmony is bitten by a vampire
Harmony's vampire form
In the final showdown with Mayor Wilkins during his Ascension, Harmony was sired by one of Wilkins' vampire minions. She rose as a vampire, having retained her characteristic pettiness, susceptibility to stronger-willed people, and an affection for unicorn figurines. Harmony began a sexual relationship with Spike, whom she called her "blondie bear." Neither Spike nor Harmony were satisfied with their relationship; Spike was frustrated by Harmony's ignorance and clinginess while she was exasperated with his endless broken promises and repeated attempts to kill Buffy. They separated, although she agreed to rekindle their relationship after Spike escaped from the Initiative. Harmony quickly regretted this decision after recognizing Spike's renewed campaign against the Slayer, and even chased him out of her lair with a stake when he desperately sought her help. Harmony thought of herself as a major villain and was angered when people don't take her seriously, especially since the Scooby Gang saw her as more of a nuisance than a real threat.
Spike's ambition to kill the Slayer apparently rubbed off. After separating from Spike, Harmony wanted to be an independent, strong vampire who could get by on her own; accordingly, she gathered her own gang and made her own attempt to kill Buffy, which ended in an embarrassing defeat, especially when both Buffy and Xander considered the very thought of Harmony having minions to be amusing. Her minions destroyed, Harmony returned to Spike for protection until it became clear that Spike's infatuation with Buffy had become an obsession.
Spike and Harmony
Los Angeles
- “Thought this was a good time to finally check out the L.A. nightlife.”
- ―Harmony[src]
Having departed Sunnydale, Harmony visited her old friend Cordelia in Los Angeles, without telling her that she had become a vampire. Harmony tried to connect with Cordelia, but had difficulty controlling her demon side. She entered Cordelia's bedroom at night, driven by blood lust, but apologized for her actions and intentions when Cordelia woke up. Cordelia misunderstood her explanation, believing her to be a lesbian until the matter was cleared up by Willow Rosenberg via a phone call. Cordelia insisted on giving Harmony a chance, despite the rest of the team growing increasingly frustrated with such habits as her popping gum or tearing pages out of books, and her references to her continued thirst for human blood did little to endear her to Angel either. She accompanied the Angel Investigations team on a mission to investigate a new vampire cult- Wesley reasoning that she would be more likely to infiltrate the cult as some vampires could sense Angel's soul-, but soon betrayed them to their enemies. Cordelia nearly killed Harmony after the team managed to escape, but, out of some respect for the friendship they once shared, allowed her to leave.
Wolfram & Hart
Harmony in Wolfram & Hart
Several years later, Harmony tried to make a life for herself in Los Angeles. She gained employment at the Los Angeles branch of Wolfram & Hart, as a member of the secretarial pool. Harmony joined in part due to the building's windows being outfitted with necro-tempered glass (which prevented vampires from being killed by sunlight), as well as the firm's non-judgmental workplace culture and dental plan. A few weeks into her employment with the firm, Wesley Wyndam-Pryce picked her out of the secretarial pool to be Angel's new personal assistant, after Angel and his staff were given control of that branch of Wolfram & Hart. Wesley apparently thought that a familiar face would be good for Angel. Angel reluctantly agreed, on the strict condition that Harmony refrained from drinking human blood (she noted at the time that she had already been off human blood for several months).
Harmony was reunited with Spike when he returned, first as a ghost and then in corporeal form. She tried to connect with him, and initially hoped to renew their relationship since he had a soul. Spike showed no interest for Harmony until he regained his corporeal form and proceeded to seduce her into a brief, disastrous fling, after which neither of them put any effort into rekindling their tumultuous relationship.
Harmony then felt isolated and alone. She knew that she was incompetent as an evil vampire, but her struggle to lead a more normal life was hindered because she lacked a soul. Angel often treated her with distrust and barely-masked hostility, and her input, ideas, and presence were generally ignored by his team. Harmony also experienced an inability to connect with her co-workers, who resented her quick rise to the position of the CEO's secretary. She was framed for murder by Tamika, another vampire secretary who wanted her job, by substituting her otter blood for human blood to make it appear as though Harmony drank from the victim. She cleared her name and ironically saved a demon summit by staking her scheming rival on a conference table with a pair of chopsticks. Despite her incompetence, Harmony managed to prove a "sort of" asset to the team, "torturing" Eve to get information, although the "torture" just consisted of her hitting Eve in the face a few times. She argued that she was willing to do it given her 'evil' status, helping Wesley search for information about Knox's plans, even consoling him after Fred's death by pointing out that the girl of his dreams loving him back was more than most people got. She also aided Lorne in protecting Eve from Marcus Hamilton, her replacement as their liaison to the Senior Partners. She started a brief friendship with Fred Burkle, though her relationship with Illyria, the demon who later inhabits Fred's body, was quite frosty.
Harmony ultimately betrayed Angel, revealing his plans to go after Archduke Sebassis to Marcus, with whom she had a sexual relationship. Angel, however, always expected her to betray him at some point, so he had only confided information that he wanted her to reveal. After her betrayal, which Angel blamed on her lack of a soul and she blames on his lack of confidence in her, he fired her, but not before providing her with a letter of recommendation (which he had already written and signed, in anticipation of her disloyalty). As Angel and Hamilton prepared to fight each other, she ran off with the letter, wishing them both luck: "May the best man win!"
Harmony later read Angel's letter of recommendation and was inspired by it to keep pursuing her own self-worth.
Celebrity
Harmony Kendall, celebrity
Harmony caused vampires to be exposed to the world at large when she bit comedian Andy Dick in an alley and was photographed in vampire face by a paparazzo. Afterward, she became the star of a reality show Harmony Bites. She also caused a major public perception problem to Slayers after one of them, a new, lone Slayer called Soledad tried to dust Harmony during a party. Harmony killed the Slayer, but used the media attention to drive the public against Slayers and becoming a spokeswoman of sorts for vampire rights. She appeared on Anderson Cooper 360 later on and declared Slayers a threat to society. Keith Olbermann was later mentioned to have given Harmony his support. Harmony began a new pro-vampire, anti-Slayer world order which is plaguing the Slayer Organization. On a later appearance of The Stephen Colbert Show, Harmony seemed to give away her motive, bringing about the end of magic, seemingly in line with Twilight's master plan. While on the show, she also candidly declared that she was evil and suggested she might kill Barbara Walters and take her place on The View. Colbert pointed out the implausibility of her being a vampire who wanted to bring about the end of magic.
Harmony and Clem during an episode of Harmony Bites.
Although Harmony's reality show was cancelled, the vampire fad continued. Harmony later became a contestant on Dancing with the Stars.
Sometime after the destruction of the Seed of Wonder, Harmony and Clem relocated to London. After an incident in which she accidentally turned a lover into a vampire, Harmony, fearing that the exposure would once again cause vampires to feed upon and kill humans, turned to Angel and Faith Lehane for help. In exchange for his help, Harmony offered to help improve Angel's image, seeing as, thanks to his actions during the Twilight crisis, he was even more loathed and feared than Buffy.[1]
Personality and Traits
- Cordelia: “You know what you are, Harmony? You're a sheep.”
- Harmony: “I'm not a sheep.”
- Cordelia: “You're a sheep. Sweaters are made from your woolly coat. All you ever do is what everyone else does, so you can say you did it first.”
- — Cordelia and Harmony[src]
Beyond her shallow yet perky personality, Harmony's defining characteristic, from her high school years up to her employment at Wolfram & Hart, was that she always tried to associate herself with what she perceived to be the most powerful and/or popular (Cordelia, Spike, Angel Investigations, Doug Sanders, Wolfram & Hart) in order to ensure her own social status and, later on, survival. She also delusionally believed herself to be a great villain, and constantly irritated when the Scoobies did not take her seriously, especially when both Buffy and Xander are greatly amused by the very thought of her having minions.
Another one of Harmony's strengths, related to her lust for power, was her knack for survival. She was never perceived as a major threat, just little more of a nuisance than anything else. Harmony also struggles to be a villian or 'good' being a soulless vampire, but eventually gave up on both of these.
Harmony, in vampire face
Powers and Abilities
- “I've done a lot of reading, and, and I'm in control of my own power now.”
- ―Harmony[src]
Harmony had the standard powers and vulnerabilities of a vampire. She was immortal, regenerated damage, drained human blood to survive, and was stronger than most humans. Like all vampires, she was vulnerable to holy items and sunlight, could be killed by decapitation or a stake to the heart, and could not enter the home of a living human without being invited by someone who lived there first.
Unlike most vampires that seemed to possess natural defensive abilities, Harmony had poor fighting skills during her first year as vampire, equally matching up against the human Xander in a fight.[2] Over time after her first break-ip with Spike, Harmony eventually began honing her potential, holding her own in fights against Riley[3], Spike[4] and fellow Wolfram and Hart employee Tamika which was probably her best display of combat.[5] For several minutes, Harmony wore the Gem of Amarra, a mystical ring that made vampires invulnerable. Thanks to it she was able to survive being staked by Spike.
Behind the Scenes
- She was portrayed by Mercedes McNab.
- Harmony Kendall first appeared in the unaired Buffy pilot as a member of Cordelia Chase's clique, the "Cordettes".
- The character Harmony holds the record for the longest a character has been in the televised Buffy universe, being the only character to appear in both the Buffy unaired pilot and the Angel series finale. Counting only aired episodes, she is second to Angel as the longest-serving character (Angel first appears in the first Buffy episode and she in the second, both appear in the Angel finale).
- She also holds the record for longest 'wait' to become series regular, what with her only finally becoming a regular right towards the end of the final season of Angel. She is also the only character to go from being a co-star (credited only at the end of an episode), through to guest-star and then ultimately star.
- Harmony has appeared more often as a vampire than as a human.
- She is one of three characters, other than Buffy and Angel, to have two episodes named after her, "Disharmony" and "Harm's Way". In Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight she also has an issue named after her, Harmonic Divergence, In Perfect Harmony, and two supplemental e-comics, Harmony Bites and Harmony Comes to the Nation.
- Along with Angel, Cordelia and Darla, she is one of only four characters to appear in both the first season of Buffy and the final season of Angel.
Appearances
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Angel
Other |
See also
References
- ↑ "In Perfect Harmony"
- ↑ "The Initiative"
- ↑ "Out of My Mind"
- ↑ "Crush"
- ↑ "Harm's Way"