Willow Rosenberg

Willow Rosenberg
Name	Willow Rosenberg
Aliases	willow@sunnynet.com, Will, Red (used by Faith and Spike), Dark Willow, The Black Hope, The Madwoman, Strawberry
Status	Alive
Classif.	Witch
Affiliation	Scooby Gang Slayer Organization Team Spike Daughters of Gaea Sunnydale High students UC Sunnydale students
Relatives	Ira Rosenberg (father) Sheila Rosenberg (mother)
Appearances
Debut	"Welcome to the Hellmouth"
Portrayed by	Alyson Hannigan Riff Regan Adam Busch Natalie Lander

“The magicks I used are very powerful. I'm very powerful. And maybe it's not such a good idea for you to piss me off.”

―Willow Rosenberg

Willow Danielle Rosenberg was a Witch native to Sunnydale, California and a founding member of the Scooby Gang. The best friend and semi-official sidekick of the Slayer, Buffy Summers, Willow started out as a meek and largely unassertive computer nerd, but eventually grew to be a powerful and authoritative individual.

Biography

History

Willow Rosenberg was born to Sheila and Ira Rosenberg. Her mother was supercilious and distant. Under the influence of a demon, Sheila tried to burn her daughter at the stake for being a witch, and though she lost much of her memory of the incident, Willow did not. Willow may have inherited from her mother a strong sense of outrage against political injustice, especially that committed against Native Americans. Willow's mother initially thought her being gay was a political statement. Then she later realized that Willow was serious about being a lesbian and became less enthusiastic about it. Her father seemed to be equally uninvolved.

Willow has a fear of frogs, a fact she exploited to help Buffy.

Sunnydale High

Willow meets her future best friend, Buffy Summers, for the first time in her sophomore year of high school.

In her early years in high school, Willow was a shy, naive nerd with a light, risque sense of humor. A member of the Math, Science, and Computer clubs, she was the person to go to for tutoring help. Willow was ridiculed by her more popular classmates, including cheerleaders Cordelia Chase and Harmony Kendall. She had a hopeless crush on her lifelong friend Xander Harris, who ignored her to pursue his equally hopeless crush on Buffy Summers. Willow soon became Buffy's best friend, and upon learning that she was actually the Slayer, dedicated herself to aiding her friend in the battle against evil.

Although Willow was at first useful to the Scooby Gang mostly through her computing and hacking skills, in her junior year she began to develop an interest in spells and witchcraft. She also became more assertive, leading the Scoobies in Buffy's absence. After discovering Xander kissing Cordelia, a heartbroken Willow decided to move on, starting a romantic relationship with Daniel Osbourne, a guitarist in the local band Dingoes Ate My Baby. She continued to date him after the revelation that he was a werewolf.

When Jenny Calendar, a computer science teacher and technopagan who Willow admired, was murdered by Buffy's newly soul-less, vampire boyfriend Angel, Willow agreed to teach her classes for the rest of the year. During this time, she went through her former favorite teacher's belongings, dabbled in magic, and performed the Ritual of Restoration to re-ensoul Angel.

Willow's first spell : the Ritual of Restoration to re-ensoul Angelus

Willow continued to blossom through witchcraft and her relationship with Oz, which played a part in raising her self-confidence. While Buffy was away in L.A., Willow took charge of the Scooby Gang, an act that would be repeated, after Buffy's death.

Willow improves her magic skills

She joined a coven with fellow magic-users Amy Madison and Michael Czajak, who became the victim of a witch-hunt led by Buffy's mother and a group called Mothers Opposed to the Occult (MOO). However, they were actually under the influence of a demon who impersonated two witch-victims; Buffy slayed the demon, and the spell was broken. She and Xander discovered a growing attraction for each other, despite the fact that were each in other relationships. While being held hostage by Spike, Willow and Xander shared a kiss, believing that they were going to be killed. To their dismay, they were caught in the act by Oz and Cordelia, who had come to rescue them. Although Cordelia broke up with Xander for good, Oz and Willow eventually managed to work things out. Tired of being "old reliable", Willow aided former vengeance demon Anya Jenkins in a spell, unwittingly releasing her own vampire counterpart from an alternate universe. She was shocked to discover that her vampire counterpart exhibited homosexual tendencies, a foreshadowing to her own lesbian relationships. Despite being accepted by several colleges, including Harvard, Yale, and Oxford, Willow decided to attend UC Sunnydale so that she could continue fighting the "good fight" with Buffy.

“I mean, you've been fighting evil here for three years, and I've helped some, and now we're supposed to decide what we want to do with our lives. And I just realized that that's what I want to do. Fight evil, help people. I mean, I think it's worth doing. And I don't think you do it because you have to. It's a good fight, Buffy, and I want in.”

―Willow chooses her path in life.

College

Willow suffered heartbreak and came to terms with her own sexuality. Moving across town to UC Sunnydale, Willow and Buffy become roommates at Room 214 in Stevenson Hall. When Oz left town after cheating on Willow with another werewolf, a devastated Willow cast a spell to have her will done, accidentally endangering her friends' lives in the process. Afterward, she joined the campus Wicca group, a disappointing experience with the exception of the presence of timid, serious witch Tara Maclay. After discovering each other's magic, they became friends, lovers, and later soul mates. Oz returned after gaining control over his wolf-side, with hopes of continuing his relationship with Willow. After some serious consideration, and coming out to Buffy, Willow chose Tara over Oz. Spike, in league with Adam, attempted to split the Scoobies apart. Willow's sexuality, and her relationship with Tara, came out to everyone during this time.

File:WillowMagic.jpg

Willow dabbles in dark magic.

Willow's power increased at a dramatic rate. Her relationship with Tara was strengthened when she discovered how Tara rose above her family's abusive lies. However, they argued when Tara voiced her concerns at how powerful Willow had become over the past few months. Shortly afterward, Tara was "brain-sucked" by the hell-goddess Glory, left in an insane, babbling state. Enraged and grief-stricken, Willow ignored Buffy's warnings and attacked Glory full force in her own home, but was ultimately defeated; however, to her credit, she did manage to actually injure Glory and weaken her significantly. Willow almost got herself killed after spitting directly in Glory's face in a show of pure spite, but Buffy arrived just in time to save her. When Buffy later went into a catatonic state, Willow magically entered her mind and freed her, assuring her that they would find a way to defeat Glory. In the final fight against Glory, Willow managed to slow her down by restoring Tara's mind, and disorientating the hell-god, reuniting with her lover. However, Buffy was forced to sacrifice herself to save the life of her sister, Dawn.

Proceeding the battle, a devastated Willow departed to Los Angeles and visited the Hyperion Hotel to inform Angel that Buffy had died.

Addiction to magick and "Dark Willow"

Giles: “The magicks you channeled are more ferocious and primal than anything you can hope to understand, and you are lucky to be alive, you rank, arrogant amateur!”

Willow: “You're right. The magicks I used are very powerful. I'm very powerful. And maybe it's not such a good idea for you to piss me off.”

— Giles condemns Willow over her growing misuse of magic.

File:DarkWillow.jpg

"Dark" Willow

Willow suffered an unbearable loss and faced her own dark side. Her magical skills first peaked when she lead Tara, Xander, and Anya in resurrecting Buffy. Willow developed an addiction to magic and began to use it excessively, and briefly got into an argument with Tara over it; she subsequently used magic to erase all memory of the fight from Tara's mind. After a demon's musical spell lead to Buffy revealing that she had been in Heaven and not Hell as they originally believed, Willow became guilt-ridden over costing her best friend eternal happiness and suggested using magic to erase Buffy's memories of Heaven, leading to another argument with Tara; not wanting to lose Tara, Willow vowed not to use magic for a week to prove that she was not dependent on it, but almost immediately went back on her word and cast a spell to make Buffy and Tara forget about the negative aspects of what her spells did, only it to backfired and gave the entire Scooby Gang, including herself, total amnesia, rendering them vulnerable when the Magic Box was attacked by a demonic loan shark trying to collect Spike's gambling debt; when the spell was broken, Tara promptly dumped Willow.

File:Buffy darker willow 131.jpg

Dark Willow warns Giles she's now powerful, before fighting him.

Without Tara's presence, Willow's addiction spiraled completely out of control; she finally managed to transform Amy back into a human, and Amy began taking her to Rack, a dark magic dealer, with her more liberal use of magic contrasting with the Scoobies' attempts to encourage responsibility. Later, while attempting to take Dawn to the movies, Willow dropped by Rack's place again and left Dawn alone and unprotected in the waiting room for two hours, disregarding Dawn's fears and complaints when she emerged. Proceeding this, they were attacked by a demon unwillingly summoned by Willow during her high. Willow commandeered a car using magic to escape, and the two suffered a car accident; while Willow emerged relatively unscathed, Dawn suffered a broken arm, and the two were saved from the demon by the timely arrival of Buffy and Spike shortly afterward. Faced with this, Willow was finally forced to face the consequences of her actions and cut off her contact with Rack and Amy, renouncing the use of her powers and choosing to help the Scoobies with her technical skills. Sometime later, Willow and Tara reconciled, prompting them to spend several hours in bed 'catching up'. When Tara was murdered by Warren Mears, however, a grief-stricken Willow, having failed to bring Tara back, unleashed her dark side once more, absorbing every bit of dark magic from the texts in the Magic Box, causing both her hair and her eyes to become solid black and having veins protruding on her face. Willow left her friends, her old self, and her morality behind and her vengeance reached a climax when she used magic to flay Warren alive. Willow absorbed the magic and life force from Rack as she pursued Jonathan Levinson and Andrew Wells, Warren's accomplices, despite the fact that they had no involvement in Tara's death, turning against her friends in the process. Andrew Wells compared her to Dark Phoenix and later referred to her as Dark Willow.

“Let me tell you something about Willow; she's a loser. And she always has been. Everyone picked on Willow in junior high, high school, up until college with her stupid mousy ways. And now... Willow's a junkie. The only thing Willow was ever good for, the only thing going for me, were those moments—just moments—when Tara would look at me and I was wonderful. And that will never happen again.”

―Willow becomes fueled by grief and magic after Tara's death.

Willow then battled her best friend Buffy, infusing herself with super-strength, saying to her, "I'm the Slayer, now." After nearly defeating Buffy, Willow was attacked by Rupert Giles, who abruptly returned with borrowed power of the Devon coven. Despite Giles's attempts to stop her, Willow absorbed his power as well, pushing her so far that she was overcome by all the pain she sensed in the world. She attempted to trigger the apocalypse to end it all, but was thwarted by Xander who, out of love, refused to leave her alone, regardless of what she had done or was doing. This eventually caused Willow to break down over her actions (partially because the power that she had absorbed from Giles put her back in touch with her true emotions and feelings).

Rehabilitation

Willow managed to overcome her dark side to activate Slayers all around the world, briefly turning her hair white in the process.

After her attempt at destroying the world, Giles took Willow to his home in England where she was forced to deal with her actions, her connection to magic, and her place in the universe. Under the teachings of the Devon Coven, Willow regained control of her magic, though was hesitant and careful about how much she used, fearing that she might revert to her "dark" self. Upon her return to Sunnydae, Willow was nervous about how her friends would react when they saw her again and accidentally cast a spell gone awry which ended in disastrous results as well as a reconciliation with the other Scoobies.

When the First Evil began its campaign against the Scooby Gang, Willow reluctantly began a relationship with Potential Slayer Kennedy. After their first kiss, however, Willow was transformed into Warren, the result of a hex placed on her by a vengeful and jealous Amy. Kennedy saved her by helping her to finally come to terms with Tara's death and move on.

Despite knowing fully well that she was the most powerful person in the Scoobies' camp, Willow was still reluctant to use her full power, especially after the First took control of her during a minor spell. However, Willow was called to Los Angeles by Fred Burkle to re-ensoul Angel once again. While there, Willow did battle with a higher power later known as Jasmine, who had possessed Cordelia, and came out victorious.

With the final batte with The First drawing nearer, Buffy entrusted Willow with a very big and important task that Willow was very reluctant to perform. Despite this, Willow tapped into the essence of the slayer Scythe, and activated every Potential Slayer around the globe(which soon caused her to pass in a mixture of awe and tiredness, mumbling "Nifty.")

“In every generation one Slayer is born because a bunch of men who died thousands of years ago made up that rule. They were powerful men. This woman is more powerful than all of them combined.”

―Buffy trusts Willow to activate the Potential Slayers.

Post-Sunnydale

Following the destruction of Sunnydale, Willow and Kennedy spent some time in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Willow also visited the Himalayas, but was unable to aid Winifred Burkle with her mystical illness because she was astrally projecting to another plane at the time.

Willow was given an opportunity to have Tara be her guide while she enhanced her magical prowess, but realized that Tara would only be given to her as an illusion or that she would be ripped from her afterlife. Willow decided to study under Aluwyn, also known as Saga Vasuki, a mysterious snake-like woman. Along the way, Willow also began a sexual relationship with Vasuki. During this time, her contact with Buffy and the Scooby Gang diminished.

When Kennedy died a mystical death, Willow resurrected her a month later and they began to take their relationship more slowly. Willow also confessed that she was keeping Kennedy away from Buffy because she didn't want to lose her, believing that if she hadn't resurrected Buffy, Tara would still be alive.

Over a year after the Hellmouth battle, Willow appeared at Buffy and Xander's Scotland base, battling Amy and her army of the undead. Willow was kidnapped by a skinless Warren Mears, who revealed that Amy had revived him moments after Willow killed him. The pair had been conspiring against her ever since, and were responsible for her transformation into Warren in 2003. Warren lobotomized Willow, who took refuge in a mental plane before being rescued by Buffy, unharmed.

Sometime after joining Buffy, Xander, and Dawn in Scotland, Willow traveled to Las Vegas to assist Spike in a sticky situation that he was in.

Willow began to settle in Scotland with Buffy and Xander, and attempted to aid Dawn who had transformed into a giant. When Buffy and Willow went on a mission to find out about more about the Scoobies' newest enemy, Twilight, the demon Sephrilian revealed the friends' secrets to each other, including the reason why Willow was keeping Kennedy away from Buffy, leaving their friendship strained. While fighting a group vampires in Tokyo, Willow met and battled a fellow student of Saga Vasuki, the witch Kumiko. The vision she received during this fight with Kumiko would later lead her to investigate a possible ripple in time in New York. When Buffy was kidnapped into the future, Willow contacted Vasuki for help during sex with an oblivious Kennedy. Saga Vasuki warned Willow not to look forward into the future when she rescued Buffy from it; Willow complied and successfully returned Buffy to the present. After Harmony Kendall unwittingly brought about a new pro-vampire, anti-Slayer world order, Willow was needed more than ever to protect the Slayers from humans and demons alike.

Along with a small team of Slayers who were also witches, Willow cast a series of powerful force fields and glamours to protect and conceal the Scottish base. Demons still attacked and defenses fell. Willow teleported out, and discovered from Saga Vasuki that Twilight was tracking them by magic. Buffy decided, after sharing concerns with Giles that Willow was heading down a dark path once again, that the group should learn from Oz how to suppress their mystical powers and natures. Buffy had Willow do one last big spell, sending everyone to Oz's retreat in Tibet. In Tibet, Willow was unhappy with the suppression of her powers which she felt were intrinsic to her identity. Furthermore, she was jealous of Oz for having a normal life, settling down with Bayarmaa and having a son, Kelden. Oz assured her she could have a normal life and learn to suppress her powers too, and also showed his trust in her by letting her watch Kelden for him. Buffy admitted to Willow that she killed her in the future, but Willow was nonplussed and opined that the future was not fixed.

In the aftermath of the Twilight crisis, Willow was left with no magic after Buffy was forced to destroy The Seed of Wonder, the heart of all magick in this dimension. Willow broke up with Kennedy soon afterward, believing that Kennedy was drawn to her in part because she had superpowers, and also realizing that she was really in love with someone else (Aluwyn). Willow tried to find some way of restoring magic and/or contacting Aluwyn again.

A few months after the Seed was destroyed, living in San Francisco along with the other Scoobies, Willow began dating Aura and started working. Willow attempted to warn Buffy of the consequences of destroying the Earth's "spark."

Future

“History is all romantic adventure stories. Until you live it. Until you live long enough to be a part of it.”

―Willow Rosenberg

Future Dark Willow

Willow remained youthful for centuries and eventually resumed her "dark" appearance of black hair and veins. Approximately two hundred years into the future, Willow was located in Haddyn—otherwise known as Manhattan—and was the one responsible for bringing Buffy Summers through time. Willow was allied with Harth Fray, the vampiric brother of current Slayer Melaka Fray. Harth considered Willow to be a "madwoman" but believed her claims that Buffy's presence in the future would cause that future to exist. However, Willow also manipulated Melaka into viewing Buffy as her enemy, telling her that if Buffy returned to her own time, Melaka's time would cease to exist. Melaka and her sister Erin captured Buffy, who was shocked to see what her friend had become. When Harth arrived at Melaka's home, both parties learned that Willow was lying to one of them. Buffy managed to escape and fought her way across Haddyn to get to a rift in time and return to the present, battling Melaka in the process. When Buffy arrived at the rift, Willow stood in her way. Before Willow could reveal her true agenda, Buffy stabbed and killed her friend with the Scythe, which it has been hinted was Willow plan all along to have a best friend end her sad existances. At that point, present Willow—blindfolded so as to avoid seeing the future—grabbed Buffy and pulled her back in time.

Traumatized by the sights of Melaka's time, Buffy began to express concern over how much she relies on Willow's powers, fearing that she may eventually go overboard again if she was pushed too far.

Personality

Willow was consistently shown as a very sweet, gentle, intelligent, caring person. She was a somewhat naive, painfully shy nerd who was stuck with a hopeless crush on her best friend Xander. She was socially awkward on more than one occasion, but had a very kind heart. She became much more confident and strong-willed, capably leading the Scooby Gang twice during Buffy's absences. When Buffy died, Willow took care of Dawn to whom she represented a maternal figure. She was very friendly and understanding, even with Spike, though she was not afraid to be tough. While still having a easily nervous nature, she grew more outspoken and confident.

However, on several occasions, Willow gave into fits of vengeance, especially if it involved someone she loved such as Oz or Tara. The incident with Tara made her personality, for a brief time, change drastically. She became consumed with pain and anger, lashing out at The Trio who she believed was the cause of her suffering. Willow became cold and uncaring, with little regard over her friends and no remorse over her actions. However, Willow started to slowly return to her former self, thanks to Xander.

Powers and abilities

• Willow levitates a pencil.
• Willow says a spell...
• a large fire is created.
• Levitation
• Electrokinesis
• The spell, shatter.
• A bag of knives.
• A spell, thicken.
• Shielding
• Potion making
• Willow prepares the ritual to bring the Slayer, and best friend,to life.
• Willow bringing Buffy back to life

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At first, Willow's major "powers" were her intelligence and computer skills, as well as marked snarkiness. She aided Giles when he researched information to aid Buffy in overcoming various challenges. Willow also aided in the preparation of magical materials, making her first potion to detect a witch and performing the ritual to revoke Angelus' invitation to Buffy's house, but did not seriously begin practicing magic until the death of Jenny Calendar, one of her teachers. She was asked to take over teaching the class because of her high aptitude, and one day came across a floppy disk containing a spell that Jenny had successfully translated to English, which can restore a vampire's soul.

Willow's initial interest in Wicca lied more in the spell-casting portion rather than the faith itself; she saw magic as a way of hacking the universe, and an extension of her computer hacking skills. This mentality may have been influenced by her relationship with Jenny, who identified herself as a "technopagan," and was connected to an online pagan network.

Willow's first major spell involved re-cursing Angel with a soul, a feat she later repeated. She learned to levitate a pencil early in her senior year, and her powers continued to develop until she was casting powerful spells independently and with the help of Tara Maclay. Soon she surpassed Tara, a more experienced witch, in skill and being able to draw enough power to fend off the hell god, Glory.

Willow demonstrated the ability to bring Buffy back to life, leaving her drained but regained her magic in a few hours. Her friend Amy introduced her to a warlock, Rack, who gave her the ability to go longer and do more spells, which led Willow further down the path to the dark side of magic. Eventually, after Tara died, magic consumed Willow and she nearly destroyed the world. At the time, Anya assumed Willow was the most powerful Wicca in the Western Hemisphere. Willow was capable of a superhuman strength rivaling that of a Slayer, flying, absorbing life from others, teleportation, being impervious to physical damage, healing herself and others instantly at will, unleashing powerful energy blasts, locating people and objects at a distance (even when theoretically protected from such spells), emitting high-pitched shrieks in frequencies harmful to human ears, and exerting powerful levels of telekinesis and telepathic mind control. This mind control even extended to Anya, despite Anya's statement that vengeance demons were immune to mind controlling magics. Additionally, she proved more than capable of going head-to-head against Buffy in a physical fight, though she largely relied on brute force rather than any martial arts skills like Buffy as well as Buffy's reluctance with fighting her.

Her willingness to use magic was greatly diminished after her experience as Dark Willow. Willow spent time at a coven in England with Giles where she developed a better understanding of magic, balance, etc. At that point, she was so powerful her very feelings and thoughts could affect the world. Amy commented that other practitioners worked "twice as hard to be half as good" as Willow. Despite this, Willow was largely prevented from accessing more than slight magic by The First Evil, who attempted to corrupt her at each spell. Examples of the controlled usage of her power were her use of telekinesis to practice self-restraint, conjuring force fields, extensive telepathic conversations, opening a portal, and exerting hypnotic control. Willow also commented that she absorbed power from the things around her, one time unwillingly draining some of Kennedy's life-force. Willow cast a spell that imbued all Potential Slayers on Earth with Slayer powers (formerly reserved for only one girl in every generation), temporarily turning Willow's eyes and hair crystal white in the process. Kennedy remarked on it by calling her "a goddess." Xander has once called her Elphaba, the name of the Wicked Witch of the West in the novel and musical Wicked.

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Willow, a.k.a. The Madwoman in 23rd century

Willow's powers greatly expanded. She could fly by force of will and regained control of her powers, and although her roots continued to go dark whenever she tapped into more power, this didn't faze her. She was able to project vast amounts of energy from her fingertips and cast aside powerful spells. She was able to heal herself rapidly from extreme injuries, at least including partial lobotomy. She was also able to heal injuries in others. Amy characterized her as a "big all-powerful earth-mother witch goddess". On two occasions she demonstrated the ability to channel part of her power through Buffy; once to help her overcome Amy and rescue Willow and again to tag-team the demon Sephrilian.

When Willow connected with the Seed of Wonder (the source of all magic in our dimension), she became so powerful that she was able to fight a whole array of demons from different dimensions. However Buffy destroyed the Seed, causing all the works to stop. Willow was rendered powerless, unable to preform any magic.

Dark Willow was powerful, alive and youthful hundreds of years into the future, though unable to cast spells of much power.

Notable Spells and Incidents

• A spell cast by Ethan Rayne on a ghost costume that Willow bought caused her to transform into an immaterial specter; however, while all others were literally transformed into her costume, Willow's soul and physical body were seemingly separated completely. She returned to normal immediately after Giles broke the spell.

• Willow cast a spell to have her will done in an attempt to get over the pain of Oz's departure, but the exact wording she used caused anything she said to come true, though only when she did so inadvertently. With this ability, she rendered Giles completely blind, made Xander a literal demon magnet, and caused Buffy and Spike to become engaged. Upon discovering what she had done, Willow immediately reversed the spell.

• Willow attempted to create a ball of sunshine in order to allow Buffy to slay vampires easily, but Anya's inability to keep quiet during the ritual instead caused the release of Olaf the Troll from the crystal in which he was trapped.

• Willow tried to cast a memory spell to wipe Buffy and Tara's memories clean of all the negative aspects of what her spells did to them, but she was rushed to do so and carelessly left an entire package of a crucial spell ingredient right next to Buffy's fireplace, which caught fire and gave the entire Scooby Gang, including herself, total amnesia. The spell was broken when Willow unwittingly dropped a crystal she used in the spell-casting and Xander stepped on it.

Appearance

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Willow's appearance changed drastically over the years, which reflected her growing level of confidence and power. Initially, she dressed like a little girl, and her mother still picked out her clothes for her. Cordelia cruelly stating, "Good to know you've seen the softer side of Sears!" After Buffy encouraged Willow to "seize the moment", her fashion sense began to reflect the growing confidence that her friendship with the Slayer granted her.

Willow blossomed through her relationship with Oz, and her appearance reflected this. She cut her hair shoulder-length (although it took her mother several months to notice this) and developed a penchant for fluffy sweaters and peculiar hats. One of her memorable outfits was her pink sweater. Feeling undervalued by her friends, Willow threatened to change her look, shortly before the arrival of the alternate universe Vamp Willow, dressed in her iconic leather outfit. Upon seeing Vamp Willow, Percy West asked her if she was "trick-or-treating", while Buffy described her as a dominatrix. Upon seeing her human alter-ego's pink sweater, vamp Willow pointed this out to her by saying, "Well, look at me. I'm all fuzzy." When she later woke up dressed in said sweater, Vamp Willow said, "Oh, this is like a nightmare." Spike admitted that he found Willow's "fuzzy pink number with the lilac underneath" to be arousing.

By college, Willow cut her hair even shorter, and began to wear long skirts and high shoes, which made her appear significantly taller and more confident than in her shy, wallflower years in high school. However, it was revealed through a dream that Willow felt she was only hiding her true geeky nature, with Buffy and Riley describing her normal clothes as a "costume." She found herself back in a high school classroom, where Buffy ripped off her "costume", leaving her dressed in her "softer side of Sears" outfit shortly before being attacked by the Primitive. Willow focused her grief over the death of Buffy's mother Joyce Summers on what clothes to wear while visiting Buffy at the hospital. She described her clothes as having "stupid things on them" and asked why she couldn't dress "like a grown-up."

When Willow was consumed by black magic, she inadvertently took on a goth look. Dark Willow, as Andrew Wells referred to her, could be identified by her black hair, black eyes, and numerous veins over her face. Xander described Dark Willow's appearance as the "makeover of the damned", but later assured her that he loved "scary, veiny Willow" just as much as "crayon breaky Willow." Willow's hair and eyes reverted to their natural color following Xander's heroic speech, but she sometimes resumed this appearance when her powers were pushed to their limits or when angered, such as battling the Crimslaw demon and Amy.

Willow's hair later grew slightly longer and she dressed more maturely. While performing the spell to activate the potential Slayers, her hair briefly turned white, contrasting the benevolent intent behind this spell against the black magic performed by Dark Willow.

Willow later dressed in clothing reminiscent of Tara and her hair was shoulder length again.

After the Seed was destroyed and magick was taken away from this dimension, Willow bobbed her hair with one half slightly shorter than the other. She seemed to have also stopped wearing dresses reminiscent to Tara, and taken on more of a modern style of clothing.

Her future counterpart was dressed in clothing that combines elements of her vampiric counterpart from the Wishverse and Drusilla. Her future self, much like Dark Willow, has black hair, black eyes, and veins over her face. While magic left Willow ageless, her power was all but depleted and she relied on Harth's power to bring Buffy to their present time.

Religion

Willow was identified, ethnically and culturally, as Jewish. She referred to herself on a number of occasions as Jewish and appeared to come from a religious family, noting that she has to go to Xander's house to watch A Charlie Brown Christmas every year. Also, when doing the spell to un-invite Angel from her house, she hid the crosses she nailed to the wall behind a curtain, noting that her father would have a fit if he saw them. Willow said her egg was Jewish. She mentioned multiple times that she celebrated Hanukkah and not Christmas. She also mentioned that she was "like Santa Claus, only thinner and Jewish" when she brought presents to Joyce in the hospital. Willow did not keep Kosher, although this was true of many Jews. Willow mentioned that she had a Bat Mitzvah. Willow placed stones on Tara's headstone, a Jewish tradition to honor the dead.

Willow was also described as a "Wicca". For example, Anya told her, "I heard you were a pretty powerful Wicca, so..." to which Willow replied, "You heard right, mister!"

Sexuality

Following Oz's departure, Willow secretly performed spells with fellow Wicca Tara, but there were hints that they were more than just friends. While identifying as lesbian, there Willow seemed to have a bisexual side to her. Vamp Willow displayed overt bisexuality and Willow formed strong heterosexual relationships early on. She also commented upon Dracula's sexiness, which was likely caused by Dracula's thrall over people and even revealed a former crush on Giles after seeing him sing with his guitar at the coffee shop. Later, Willow's relationship with dealer Rack took on sexual overtones, although it was mostly because of the magic he gave her. However, Willow did make her preferences clear. As one of the many women under R.J. Brooks' love spell, she sought to transform him into a woman. Discussing the conquests of best friend Xander, Willow teasingly said that even she "went in for smoochies" before reiterating "and I don't truck with the stubbly crowd."

Relationships

Romantic interests

• Xander Harris — Willow "dated" Xander when they were five, until he stole her Barbie. She continued a hopeless, unrequited crush on her lifelong friend into high school. At the beginning of Season Two (When She Was Bad), she and Xander shared a moment of tenderness that was quickly interrupted when Buffy reappeared after having been gone all summer. In Season Three (Homecoming), Willow and Xander begin a brief affair though they were each involved with someone else. Willow's bisexual vampire alter-ego also had a long-lasting relationship with her universe's Xander after each of them were turned into vampires. She wrote angst filled love poems about Xander as a teen, but when she mentioned them, she politely told Xander, "Over you, sweetie." Willow reminisced upon having found Xander very attractive during her teen years. Ultimately, even though the two of them were not in love, they do have a great deal of love for each other; this fact saved the world when Xander pointed this out repeatedly and stopped Willow from ending the world.

• Thomas — Encouraged by Buffy to "seize the day", Willow built up the courage to talk to this boy and go for ice cream. However, when he turned out to be a vampire and tried to kill her, Buffy had to save her, and Willow was forced to accept the existence of demons.

• "Malcolm Black"/Moloch — Willow unwittingly awoke this ancient demon by scanning him into the Internet. He claimed to be in love with her, starting an online relationship with her under the identity of Malcolm Black. However, when Willow rejected Malcolm after discovering he is actually a murderous, demonic robot, he tried to kill her and Buffy was forced to slay him.

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Willow and Oz.

• Daniel Osbourne — Willow dated Oz, a guitar playing-werewolf for almost two years, losing her virginity in the process. However, their relationship ended when she learned of his affair with Veruca, a female werewolf. After Oz killed Veruca to save Willow from her, he left to try to find a way to control his lycanthropy. When he returned to Sunnydale months later hoping for a reconciliation, Willow had begun her relationship with Tara. However, her feelings for Oz had remained strong, and she told him, "I feel like some part of me will always be waiting for you." But the next time Willow sees Oz, he has a wife and a son, which is much to the shock of the Scoobies, but Willow seemed okay with it, showing she has moved on.

• Vamp Willow — Willow's bisexual vampire alter ego expressed an attraction for her in the first hint that Willow's sexual orientation may be something other than heterosexual. Willow found this somewhat disturbing, asking, "Would that mean we have to snuggle?"

Willow and Tara.

• Tara Maclay — Willow's first lesbian relationship initially started as a friendship but quickly developed into something more. Willow met Tara in a Wicca group during college, and began a relationship which eventually became sexual. They were portrayed as each others' "soul mates". People outside the main group of Scoobies, such as Spike, Faith and a recently returned Oz, would recognize the relationship and Willow's lesbianism almost immediately after meeting Tara, whereas close friends Willow spent most of her time with, such as Xander and Buffy, remained utterly oblivious until Willow accidentally came out to them. Tara briefly left Willow because of her inappropriate use of magic to erase part of Tara's memory, but they soon got back together just in time for Tara's shocking death. However, Willow later admitted that after Buffy died and she resurrected her, she felt that she chose Buffy over her love, which caused her death.

• Rupert Giles — When Willow saw him sing at the Espresso Pump, her reaction wes to say, "Now I remember why I used to have such a crush on him." There were a handful of hints of this crush in high school: Giles recognized Willow in the Bronze because she was one of the few students who actually enjoyed visiting the library, there was a picture of Giles and Willow together in Willow's locker, when Buffy thought its 'eww' that Faith thought Giles was sexy Willow didn't raise her hand and had an impish smile on her face. But Willow's crush on Giles never went anywhere. Normally, they shared a "mentor-mentee" relationship (more than the "daughter-father" one that both Buffy and Anya have with Giles); very affectionate, mutually respectful, but often conflictual.

• Dracula — Willow described the infamous vampire as "sexy", to Tara's surprise and mild jealousy.

• R.J. Brooks — Under a love spell along with Buffy, Dawn, and Anya, Willow became obsessed with this male high school student, despite his "physical presence." When Anya pointed out that "his physical presence has a penis", Willow insisted that she could "work around it", summoning the goddess Hecate to transform him into a woman. Xander and Spike intervened before she succeeded, and the love spell was soon lifted.

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Willow and Kennedy's first kiss

• Kennedy — Willow continued her recovery from Tara's death as she embarked on a relationship with this Potential Slayer. Andrew stated that Kennedy and Willow were living together in South America. Following her month-long mystical death, they decided to take things slow but broke up after the destruction of the Seed of Wonder. Due to the End of Magic, Willow was without her abilities and came to the conclusion that Kennedy was mainly interested in her because of her powers and felt that her skill with computers didn't "do it" for Kennedy. During the same conversation with Buffy, Willow also stated that she was in love with someone else and that it was someone she will never see again. This could be a reference to Aluwyn or even Tara as she did not name the individual.

• Winifred Burkle — Though not technically a romantic relationship, Willow somewhat slyly inquired as to what is Fred's "story" to Wesley, indicating a possible interest on Willow's part and earning her a surprised look of pondering from Wesley. Additionally, Willow mistook Fred's excitement at seeing her, and her eagerness to spend time with her, for attraction. Willow told Fred she was already seeing someone.

• Aluwyn - Willow first met Aluwyn when she arrived to the spirit world to look for a guide to help her control her powers. On their first meeting, Aluwyn told Willow that she was her guide and that she would help her better control the power that dwelled within her; however, Willow quickly learned that Aluwyn was not her guide and the other goddess had appeared and told Aluwyn to leave Willow alone. With Aluwyn gone, the other goddess offered Willow to have Tara be her guide on her journey toward improving her understanding of her powers. However, Willow surmised this would either be robbing Tara of her afterlife or an illusion, and instead chose Aluwyn. At some point during Willow's training, the two began an affair and even began to sleep together.

Enemies

• Rack - Rack was a dark warlock who became Willow's metaphorical black magic "drug dealer" after being introduced by Amy. Rack's business relationship with Willow took on frequent sexual, perhaps abusive overtones in his referring to her "taste" as being "like strawberries" a reference to the slang term "strawberry" or a person who has sex in exchange for drugs, and the euphoria she attained in her transfer of power. Eventually, after her transformation into Dark Willow, Willow murdered Rack and stole his life force.

• Amy Madison — Amy and Willow were friends from junior high through high school. Willow kept her as a pet after Amy transformed herself into a rat. The two become closer during Willow's magic-junkie period; however, their friendship ended abruptly and Amy later sought retribution. Amy started a romantic relationship with Willow's enemy Warren Mears, whom she had kept alive mystically since Dark Willow skinned him alive. Amy then put a hex on Willow and later tried to assassinate Buffy on behalf of the American military. Willow intervened and engaged Amy in an airborne battle.

• Warren Mears — Warren incurs Willow's wrath when he accidentally shot Tara while aiming for Buffy. Consumed by grief and black magic, Dark Willow tracked him down, tortured him, and eventually flayed him alive. However, unbeknownst to Willow, Warren was kept alive by Amy Madison, and plotted revenge on the woman who tried to kill him.

Sororal

Willow's friendships and rivalries with Buffy and Anya largely reflected sisterly relationships. Each of the three shared a paternal relationship with Giles and either an animosity or extreme closeness which resembled a typical sister relationship. These patterns are commented upon when Giles attempts to stop the three from fighting, and Dark Willow comments, "Uh oh, daddy's home. I'm in wicked trouble now."

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Buffy and Willow maintain strong friendship ties

• Buffy Summers - Buffy and Willow established a close friendship. The two risked their lives for each other on many occasions. Buffy was there for Willow when she comes out as a lesbian and also during her rehabilitation from addiction to magic. Buffy commented upon their closeness as a connection between the two no matter how far apart they were. Despite Buffy's lesbian experience, both women (loudly) insisted they are not attracted to each other, this did not prevent Kennedy from becoming somewhat suspicious when she saw the duo hug after Buffy's trip to the future. Willow asked Satsu what Buffy was like in bed, however Satsu refuses to answer. Ironically, in the possible future, Buffy was the one to finally end Willow's life

• Dawn Summers - Despite Buffy's strained relationship at times with Dawn, Willow and girlfriend Tara acted as cool older friends to the young teenager despite her angsty turbulence. After the deaths of both Joyce and Buffy, Willow and Tara acted as surrogate parents for Dawn. Willow's sisterly affection for "Dawny" continues to the point that even Buffy envies that Dawn saw Willow as a better sister than her.

• Anya Jenkins - Their love-hate feelings towards each other provided common comic relief. Their relationship became more close and sisterly, which naturally led to further occasional arguments between the two.

Other

• Cordelia Chase - Cordelia was a bully to both Xander and Willow since grade school, which caused them to form the "We Hate Cordelia" Club. This mutual hatred continued into high school, until Cordelia reluctantly began working with the Scooby Gang against various threats. After an initial disgust, the two formed a stronger friendship when Cordelia began dating Xander. After Willow and Xander were caught having an affair, Cordelia reverted to her former bully persona, and was cruel towards Willow and the Scoobies once again. Eventually, Willow and Cordelia made amends and the two continued to remain in touch after Cordelia left for Los Angeles.

• Angel - Angel shared deep affection and mutual confidence with Willow, and not just because she restored his soul twice. On several occasions, he asked for her help, looking at her as a reliable ally and friend. During his initial time in Sunnydale, after Buffy, Willow was probably Angel's closest friend in the Scooby Gang, as he only socialized with the two of them outside of combat situations, although, as with all the team, his relationship with her was somewhat strained after he came back from Hell. When Buffy died, Willow was the one who made the trip to L.A. to inform Angel, and is also the one who informed him of her return. They hugged as old friends. Like the other Scoobies, Willow seemingly lost trust in Angel when he took over Wolfram & Hart. After Angel was discovered to be Twilight, her attitude toward him changed to open hostility, to the extent that, while fighting the invading demons, Willow briefly turned him into a frog.

Spike comforts himself on Willow

• Spike - Willow and Spike maintained what could be classified as a friendly relationship. She comforted him following his break up with Drusilla even though he had kidnapped her to perform a love spell. He once offered her a choice of being sired or killed; though Willow retaliated by smashing a lamp over his head, she nonetheless seemed flattered. They maintained a friendship with Spike being respectful of her relationship with Tara. Spike understood her motives for attacking Glory and said he would have done the same. Following Buffy's death, Spike worked with Willow and Tara in taking care of Dawn. He also defended her slightly when Anya attempted to pressure her into a spell during her recovery. Following his attack on Buffy, their relationship suffered, although she turned to him for help after her return. Willow trusted Spike after his chip was removed. Willow traveled to Las Vegas in Spike, to help Spike out when he was having difficulties which included his soul and Drusilla. Willow and Spike were shown to have established a strong friendship, Spike even calling Willow by her nickname, "Will," and making her promise not to tell Buffy about her visit.

• Harmony Kendall - In Graduation Day Part 1, Willow and Harmony signed each other's yearbooks, Willow stating they'd keep in touch. Despite this, Willow had a very strong dislike of Harmony, saying "she hates her with a fiery vengence". The reason being that Harmony picked on bullied her for about 10 years, and soon after calling her a 'skank'. She told Buffy that "she's just missing everything now."

Behind the Scenes

• She was portrayed by Alyson Hannigan.

• Willow was a regular character for all seven seasons. She and Buffy are the only characters to appear in all 144 episodes of the series.

• With 147 television appearances, Willow is second only to Angel (who appears in 167 episodes) as the most prolific character.

• Along with Buffy, Giles, Xander and Angel, she is one of only five characters to appear in both the pilot and series finale of Buffy: "Welcome to the Hellmouth" and "Chosen".

Gallery

See Willow Rosenberg/Gallery

Appearances

Canonical appearances

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

• All 144 episodes

Angel

• "Disharmony"
• "There's No Place Like Plrtz Glrb"
• "Orpheus"

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight

• The Long Way Home
• No Future for You
• Anywhere But Here
• A Beautiful Sunset (Only in flashbacks)
• Wolves at the Gate
• Time of Your Life
• After These Messages ... We'll Be Right Back!
• Predators and Prey
• Retreat
• Turbulence
• Twilight
• Last Gleaming

Other

• Willow & Tara
• Wicked Willow
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds

External Links

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