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Note: This article is about the Vampire King. For other uses, see Giles.
Btvs The subject of this article is non-canonical.
While created as part of licensed material, it has not been confirmed as part of the "real" Buffyverse continuity.
Angelwings

Rupert Giles was the Vampire King and leader of the Kakchiquels in an alternate timeline visited by Buffy Summers.

Biography[]

Siring[]

During the conflict between Camazotz and the Scooby Gang, Giles attempted to learn the demon-god's location by visiting the local harbormaster against the wishes of Buffy. However, Giles was unaware that the harbormaster had been changed into a vampire and was loyal to the Kakchiquels. Giles was overpowered and captured by the vampire to be used as bait for the Slayer.

When Buffy entered the harbormaster's office, he held Giles as a hostage while Camaztoz entered and demanded that Buffy surrender to him to save Giles' life. Lightly armed and with no backup, Buffy weighed her options and realized that the demon-god would most likely kill them both if she surrendered. Buffy chose to flee, believing that Camazotz would keep Giles alive as bait and she could come back to rescue him later. Buffy barely escaped with her life, but Lucy Hanover reassured Buffy that her Watcher was still alive as of the next morning.[1]

Unknown to Buffy and her friends, Camazotz was enraged by Buffy's defiance and escape. In revenge, he ordered one of his Kakchiquels to transform Giles into a vampire. By the time the Scooby Gang confronted Camazotz at the local bus station, Giles was already undead and stopped their charge at the demon-god in an attempt to rescue Buffy. Giles reassured his former friends that he wouldn't dream of harming Buffy and ordered Camazotz not to kill her as it would only cause the creation of a new Slayer. The Scoobies were left alive, but recognized that it was not an act of mercy on Giles' part, but rather the fact that they were simply an afterthought with Buffy captured and Zotzilaha dealt with.[2]

Following Buffy's capture, Angel set out to rescue her. Giles and Angel fought and though Angel was more than a match for Giles, Giles had a spell set up like a magical bear trap. When Angel walked into it, Giles caught him in the heart with a stake. Retaining his personality and grudges from when he was human, Giles sought revenge upon Angel for his torture by trapping him in a bubble where time was frozen around him, constantly a moment away from death and to die if he were ever to get free.[3]

The Vampire King[]

Over the next five years, Giles usurped Camaztoz's leadership of the Kakchiquels and imprisoned the demon-god to act as a living battery. Interrogating Camazotz, Giles was able to get the demon-god's history and wrote it all down as he would've done as a human.[4] Styling himself the Vampire King, Giles began plotting a slow takeover of the world, using the lure of Camazotz's power to draw a massive following that included Spike and Drusilla. Slowly, Giles had his vampires turn the leadership of Sunnydale into vampires loyal to himself before, a little over a year since Buffy's capture, taking over the town on the night of the winter solstice, the longest night of the year. Giles ordered Spike to kill Buffy's mother and friends. Though Spike succeeded in killing Joyce and Anya and scarring Xander, Oz gained control over his werewolf abilities and drove Spike off before he could harm anyone else.

Giles' efforts eventually led to him taking control of the neighboring town of El Surete and slowly gaining power over Los Angeles. Knowing full well how dangerous Buffy was, Giles took steps to keep her from predicting her guards moves and escaping. Faith was eventually killed by Spike, resulting in a new Slayer, August, being called. Giles and his army were opposed by the surviving members of the Scooby Gang and a military operation under the leadership of the Watchers Council. However, as Giles grew more and more powerful, the US military threatened to intervene, which was suspected to mean napalming Sunnydale, which would not guarantee Giles' destruction and result in innocent lives being lost.[3]

Buffy's escape[]

Five years after being turned into a vampire, Giles' forces captured the new Slayer August. Wanting to test how Buffy's skills had developed, Giles had August thrown into Buffy's cell resulting in a fight between the two Slayers that left August dead. Buffy subsequently escaped, but rather than move to recapture or kill her, Giles reveled in witnessing her abilities firsthand and instead aided in her escape, delaying the chase and even leaving Buffy's crossbow for her to find to give Buffy an edge. Though Giles predicted Buffy's movements based on his knowledge of his former protégé, Giles split his forces to give her a better chance, allowing Buffy to kill Drusilla and escape Spike with the help of the Watchers Council.[2][3]

Aware of Giles' actions, an enraged Spike confronted the Vampire King as he was receiving a report on the successful siring of many of Los Angeles' leaders, before Giles pulled him into a private meeting. Devastated by the loss of Drusilla, Spike openly challenged Giles' actions, but Giles mocked Spike's grief and tantrum, suggesting he leave to get over himself before returning if he felt the need to. Only enraged further, Spike demanded that Giles gather his forces to hunt down and kill Buffy immediately, before she could become even more of a threat to them. Spike realized that Giles didn't intend to kill Buffy at all and finally caused Giles to snap and viciously attack Spike for his defiance. Giles explained that everything Buffy was was because of him and she was a more efficient predator, a more perfect creature than any vampire that followed him, and Giles wanted that by his side. Though Giles didn't want for Buffy to escape, he knew that she would never allow herself to be taken alive again and was eager to turn Buffy. Giles knocked Spike out the window into the sunlight, though Spike survived and escaped. Giles suspected Spike's escape, but also believed that Spike would eventually return after letting off some steam.

Giles later traveled to the former hospital where the Watchers Council had set up their base to speak to Buffy in person. Having learned the truth from her friends, Buffy wasn't receptive to Giles' presence, though shocked to learn that he had been the one to help her escape. Giles urged Buffy to join him and left her the blessed sword she had once used to kill Angel with to save the world before escaping once again.[3]

Final confrontation[]

With the threat from Giles growing, Buffy led a massive daytime assault on Sunnydale to retake the town and destroy Giles. During the battle, Buffy and her friends discovered the imprisoned Camazotz and killed the demon-god, depriving the surviving Kakchiquels of their source of power. However, much of Giles' army continued to fight on even without their source of power, though some deserted.

While searching the Sunnydale City Hall for Giles, Buffy, Willow, Xander, and Oz discovered the imprisoned Angel. While Buffy mourned the fact that she had lost so many loved ones, Giles himself appeared to confront his former friends and attempt to convince Buffy to join him. Though Buffy's friends intended to take on the Vampire King with her, Giles' army was proving to be too much for the Council's assault force, something that Giles had anticipated and even planned for. With no other choice, Buffy sent her friends away to help the others while she faced down Giles alone apart from a helpless Angel.

Purposefully ignoring Angel's attempts to get Buffy to see through Giles' manipulations, the Vampire King attempted to convince the Slayer to join him, even claiming that he could save Angel if she so chose. Angel kept attempting to get Buffy to see through Giles' efforts, shouting to her that Giles was lying and Angel was dead no matter what. Giles finally lost control and turned on Angel, ordering the other vampire to shut up. Giles' loss of control caused Buffy to finally see through his act and recognize that her mentor was dead and all that was left was a demon possessing his corpse.

Buffy attacked Giles with the sword he had left for her as a gift and the Vampire King dropped his act entirely, taking on his vampire face as he battled the Slayer. Dodging her attack, Giles kicked Buffy down and angrily expressed his disappointment in her refusal to join him. Buffy was pleased to realize that Giles was truly shocked that Buffy hadn't joined him after all and stated that that kind of thinking proved that Giles was truly gone and that the vampire had Giles' cunning but not his brains. With Giles shaken by Buffy's words, she was able to cut off his left hand with the sword, but Giles viciously counterattacked, disarming Buffy and attacking with the sword utilizing the expert fencing skills that he had rarely used in life.

Dodging Giles' attacks, Buffy made her way to in front of the magical bubble containing Angel and dodged Giles' attack when he swung at her, having become faster than Giles remembered over their five years apart. Giles instead swung through the bubble, which shocked him with enough dark power to kill a man. The attack popped the bubble, causing Angel to dust, and Buffy grabbed the stake that Giles had killed Angel with as it dropped towards the floor. Buffy turned on Giles, who was still stunned by the effects of the magic, and kicked aside his arm and the sword when he tried to attack her with it. Taking on his human visage, the Vampire King attempted to plead with Buffy, but she only stated that it was time to clean up her mess. Looking into his eyes, Buffy staked Giles, dusting the Vampire King. As Buffy collapsed in the remains, she was joined by her friends minus Xander, who had succeeded in defeating Giles' army at great cost.[4]

Legacy[]

In the aftermath of Giles' death, the remainder of his army disbanded and Sunnydale was retaken. Despite Giles having been responsible for the war as the Vampire King, he was included in the list of those who had died retaking Sunnydale, considered a victim in his own right due to how he became a vampire in the first place.

Utilizing Giles' records, Willow was able to piece together the events that had led to the horrible future Buffy had experienced. Buffy realized that her mistake that caused the future was not relying on her friends and only herself. With Willow's help, Buffy was able to project herself backwards in time to before she had made the mistake and, with the help of Lucy Hanover, enlisted the help of her friends on the night at the harbormaster's office. This time, with the help of a timely distraction by Willow, Buffy was able to rescue Giles and drive Camazotz away, preventing Giles from being captured and turned into a vampire. Camaztoz's subsequent demise sealed the destruction of the timeline where Giles became the Vampire King, changing his future.[4]

Personality[]

This version of Giles possessed a twisted version of his personality as a human. He retained much of his human self's bookish tendencies, such as his tendency to write things down that he learned. At times, Giles displayed many of his original human mannerisms in conversation, such as reaching up to adjust the glasses he didn't wear any more or acting as though he'd been caught up in some other train of thought before someone spoke to him. He also had Giles' intelligence, but retained his grudges, such as Giles' grudge against Angel for having been tortured. Giles retained his human self's fondness for Buffy and paternal love for the Slayer. However, as a vampire, his love for Buffy was twisted and he wanted her to rule at his side for eternity. Giles went so far as to help Buffy escape in his own way to test her skills, sacrificing some of his most powerful soldiers in the process, proud of how she had developed and angered by Spike's challenge of his actions. Giles himself insisted that he was still the man he had once been, albeit with his soul gone, stating that he had always underestimated the process until he became a vampire himself.

However, Giles became sadistic as well, trapping Angel forever a moment from death to get revenge upon the vampire and targeting Buffy's friends and family early into his reign. Giles was known for using his retention of his human mannerisms to manipulate and throw his enemies off-guard, something that he counted on during his confrontations with Buffy; it took Angel provoking him into a fit of temper for Buffy to fully accept that the vampire she was facing was only a corruption of Giles rather than Giles himself. He was megalomaniacal and desired to rule the world. Unlike most vampires, Giles had the patience and intelligence to pull off a long-term plan, that allowed him to take over places slowly, to the point that most people were unaware he had control until it was too late.[citation needed]

Though he styled himself the Vampire King, Giles was shown to actually hate that title and to think it a load of crap. However, Giles believed that humans and vampires, as a general rule, were stupid and that royalty and fear were two things that both understood.[3]

Appearances[]

References[]

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