Changes: Sweet

Revision as of 22:12, 1 December 2018

This article is about a subject whose real name is unknown, being identified only by a title, nickname, or alias.

“I'm the heart of swing, I'm the twist and shout / When you gotta sing / When you gotta let it out.”

―Sweet^[src]

Sweet was the nickname of a powerful demon whose mere presence could cause the inhabitants of an area he visited burst into song and dance, which would lead to some of the victims spontaneously combusting. He was supposedly bound by certain rules such as marrying whoever summoned him and taking them to his own hell dimension, but seemed to have the authority to ignore them if he so desired.

Biography

“I come from the imagination / and I'm here strictly by your invocation / So what do you say? / Why don't we dance a while?”

―Sweet^[src]

History

Not much was known about the demon's origin and history. However, he claimed to have given "Nero his very first fiddle", implying he has been summoned to earth at least once in the past, and was involved, directly or otherwise, with the Roman emperor's reign.

Sunnydale

Sweet was summoned via a talisman by Xander Harris, who believed that summoning Sweet would bring "dances and songs" to give a brighter atmosphere for his upcoming wedding. However, Xander was unaware that the spell would inspire uncontrollable singing and confessions of dangerous secrets until the singers spontaneously combusted. However, the talisman that summoned him was taken by Dawn Summers, whose depression due to losing her mother and her sister's lack of attention had led her into kleptomania. This prompted Sweet to believe she had been the one to invoke him.

Sweet, who had established his lair at The Bronze, sent his henchmen to kidnap her and bring her to him, intending to make her his queen and take her to his hell dimension. After his attempting to seduce her through his singing talent and displaying his abilities, as well as the effects of his presence, she told him her sister was the Slayer, hoping that he would let her go. However, Sweet was intrigued (implying that he had probably heard about Buffy from his fellow demons, as Dracula had once told Buffy she was "known throughout the world", which possibly meant in the hell dimensions as well), and sent his henchmen to lure the Slayer to him, hoping to see her burn before him.

Sweet then tricked Buffy into singing and then dancing, though she was saved from combustion by the appearance of Spike, who helped her to calm down. Afterwards, he insisted on taking Dawn with him since she was bearing his talisman. However, after Xander revealed he had been the one to perform the invocation and not Dawn, he dismissed the rules and, getting one last laugh, sang to the Scoobies that they had revealed each other's secrets and departed.

Personality and traits

“Now we're partying. / That's what it's all about.”

―Sweet^[src]

Sweet was a smooth-talking demon with an ironic sense of humor (sarcastically telling the Scooby Gang that "they beat the bad guy", when in fact he actually left smugly), and who reveled in the chaos and insanity his haunting caused; thus, when he was defeated, he was unaffected by it and simply accepted it. Though humanoid, Sweet was hairless and red-skinned with a pointed chin and lazy eye.

Powers and abilities

“You call me and I come a-running. / I turn the music on; I bring the fun in.”

―Sweet^[src]

Mind Manipulation — Sweet had an ability to cause every being, including other demons, in a given area to burst into singing and dancing, as well as making them feel like they were in a musical.
Teleportation — Sweet could teleport to and from this dimension by transforming himself into a whirling blue light.
Hypnosis — Sweet demonstrated some hypnotic power, luring Dawn into dancing with him.
Combustion — As a result of living in a musical, people affected by it would sing and dance to the point that they spontaneously combusted.
Reality Warping — Sweet had certain reality-bending abilities allowing him to:

besides making people live in a musical, he could create background music, from unseen sources, to accompany their singing and dancing.
he changed the color of his suit from red to blue.
rip out his still singing mouth without causing harm to himself.
create a door to the streets in the middle of The Bronze.
change Dawn's outfit from a blue top and black pants to a tan top and blue skirt.

Power Detection — Sweet claimed he could "smell" Willow Rosenberg's raw magical power.

Gallery

Behind the scenes

Buffy: “You got a name?”

Sweet: “I've got a hundred.”

— Buffy and Sweet^[src]

His character was not given a name in this episode. However, the credits stated "Sweet makeup by...", and from this fans adopted his name. A music video for the song Walk Through the Fire was released to promote the release of the episode's album, during which the music video also labelled him with the name Sweet.

He was portrayed by Hinton Battle.

Appearances

"Once More, with Feeling"
Always Darkest (in dreams)

@@ Line 64: / Line 64: @@
 {{Dialogue a-b|Buffy|You got a name?|Sweet|I've got a hundred.|Buffy and Sweet|Once More, with Feeling}}
-*His character was not given a name in this episode. However, the credits stated "Sweet makeup by...", and from this fans adopted his name.
+*His character was not given a name in this episode. However, the credits stated "Sweet makeup by...", and from this fans adopted his name. A music video for the song Walk Through the Fire was released to promote the release of the episode's album, during which the music video also labelled him with the name Sweet.
 *He was portrayed by [[Hinton Battle]].