- “Okay... Let's deal with this. Jesse was an excruciating loser who couldn't get a date with anyone in the sighted community! Look at me. I'm a new man!”
- ―Jesse[src]
Jesse McNally was a Sunnydale High School student and a close friend of Alexander Harris and Willow Rosenberg.[1] In 1996, Jesse was sired as a vampire and became a member of the Order of Aurelius, but was accidentally staked by Xander shortly after.[2]
Biography[]
Human[]
Around the time Buffy Summers transferred to Sunnydale High, Jesse had a crush on Cordelia Chase. Although he occasionally summoned the confidence to speak to her, she repeatedly dismissed him due to his nervous "puppy attitude," causing him to back off.[1]
One night at the Bronze, Jesse was seduced by the vampire Darla and taken to the Master, while Thomas also lured Willow. Although Jesse was briefly rescued,[1] the Aurelian vampires later kidnapped him from Buffy, Willow, and Xander.[2]
Vampire[]
In their lair in a sunken church, Darla offered Jesse to the Master, describing his blood as "pure." However, the Master was offended that she would offer him a human who had already been fed on. Jesse was then sired as part of a trap for the Slayer, with the vampires explaining that he was being promoted from "food" to "bait."[2]
The newly sired Jesse accompanied Darla, Luke, and several vampires to the Bronze for the Harvest, a ritual intended to release the Master from his mystical prison. Jesse approached Cordelia and asked her to dance, but became annoyed when Darla claimed her as the next victim to be sacrificed to the Master's Vessel.[2]
Jesse is confronted by Xander.
As Buffy arrived to stop the Harvest, Jesse was confronted by Xander. During their interaction, Jesse was accidentally killed when a fleeing girl knocked him into a stake Xander was wielding.[2]
Legacy[]
Years later, Xander recounted the experience of staking Jesse while speaking with San Francisco Police Department detective Robert Dowling, who was hesitant to stake his newly sired partner, Miranda Cheung. Xander noted that even to this day, when he thought back on the event, he could only see the face of his friend.[3]
Powers and abilities[]
- “I feel good, Xander! I feel strong! I'm connected, man, to everything! I can hear the worms in the earth!”
- ―Jesse[src]
Jesse possessed the common powers and weaknesses of a vampire. He also showed the typical attitude of newly-sired vampires, astonished by his newfound powers and immortality.[2]
Behind the scenes[]
- He was portrayed by Eric Balfour.
- The script for "Welcome to the Hellmouth" described Jesse's entrance: "They are approached by JESSE, their bud. He is a little more awkward than Xander, a little less likely to become a lady killer in his later years."
- Joss Whedon planned to include Balfour in the opening credit sequence of the first episode, to make it even more shocking when this supposed main character was immediately killed off. There was not enough money to do this at the time,[4] but Whedon later used the trick in the sixth season, putting Amber Benson in the credits for "Seeing Red," the episode in which her character Tara is killed.
- An original plotline for "Conversations with Dead People" would have involved the First Evil taking Jesse's form to taunt Xander.[5]
- In the book Into Every Generation a Slayer Is Born, Danny Strong claimed that Joss Whedon originally wrote the role with him in mind after being impressed with him on the unaired pilot. Strong auditioned for the role, but was unsuccessful, but was later cast as Jonathan Levinson.
Appearances[]
Canonical[]
| Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 1 | |||||||||||
| "Welcome to the Hellmouth" Appears |
"The Harvest" Appears |
"Witch" Absent |
"Teacher's Pet" Absent |
"Never Kill a Boy on the First Date" Absent |
"The Pack" Absent |
"Angel" Absent |
"I Robot, You Jane" Absent |
"The Puppet Show" Absent |
"Nightmares" Absent |
"Out of Mind, Out of Sight" Absent |
"Prophecy Girl" Absent |
| Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 9 | |||||||||||
| "Magical Mystery Tour, Featuring the Beetles" Absent |
Freefall, Part 1 Absent |
Freefall, Part 2 Absent |
Freefall, Part 3 Absent |
Freefall, Part 4 Absent |
Slayer, Interrupted Absent |
On Your Own, Part 1 Absent |
On Your Own, Part 2 Absent |
Apart (of Me), Part 1 Absent |
Apart (of Me), Part 2 Mention |
Apart (of Me), Part 3 Absent | |
| "In Space No One Can Hear You Slay" Absent |
Guarded, Part 1 Absent |
Guarded, Part 2 Absent |
Guarded, Part 3 Absent |
Billy the Vampire Slayer, Part 1 Absent |
Billy the Vampire Slayer, Part 2 Absent |
Wonderland, Part 1 Absent |
Wonderland, Part 2 Absent |
Wonderland, Part 3 Absent |
Wonderland, Part 4 Absent |
Wonderland, Part 5 Absent | |
| Welcome to the Team, Part 1 Absent |
Welcome to the Team, Part 2 Absent |
Welcome to the Team, Part 3 Absent |
Welcome to the Team, Part 4 Absent |
The Watcher Absent |
The Core, Part 1 Absent |
The Core, Part 2 Absent |
The Core, Part 3 Absent |
The Core, Part 4 Absent |
The Core, Part 5 Absent |
Love vs. Life Absent | |
Other[]
- The Harvest
- Sunnydale High Yearbook (Only mentioned)
- The Willow Files, Vol. 1 (Only mentioned)
- The Xander Years, Vol. 1 (Only mentioned)
- Demons of the Hellmouth (Only mentioned)
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Welcome to the Hellmouth"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 "The Harvest"
- ↑ Apart (of Me), Part Two
- ↑ Joss Whedon, The Complete First Season on DVD: audio commentaries for "Welcome to the Hellmouth." [DVD]. 20th Century Studios, January 2002.
- ↑ "Conversations with Dead People". BBC. Retrieved on November 29, 2020.