Buffy Characters ranked from Buzzfeed

Puppet said:
This thread kinda spiraled quickly, didn't it?

I'm with @thetopher on this one. Even though I wasn't around in 'those days' I went through the cemetery threads when I first joined last year and saw the evidence for myself.

Also, while I would never speak for my former Spuffy board-mates, my memory tells me they left due to the changes in the shipping forums; they didn't feel like they had a safe place to discuss their favorite romance. Now maybe part of that was because they got vitriol in return from some members, but I just maybe don't think it's fair to claim that you know exactly why these people left.
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I'm not sure why they felt that way, unless us Bangels were invading the Spuffy forum. However, I know a lot of Spuffies were invading the Bangel forum and made it very uncomfortable for us Bangels. I don't mind debating Bangel and their flaws with non-shippers or Spuffy fans, but I should not have to constantly defend Bangel in a place that was a safe place and I believe that for the Spuffies as well! I never invaded their forums unless it was to say something nice or share a lovely video of Spuffy. So I apologize as a Bangel if they left due to Bangels invading their forum because that is not right at all! But, I don't remember that being problem, but then again I don't lurk in the Spuffy forum since I know I can't comment anyways.
 
TriBel
TriBel
"So I apologize as a Bangel if they left due to Bangels invading their forum because that is not right at all!" No need for the apology - that wasn't why they left. :)
Buffy Summers
Buffy Summers
I can promise you that Bangels had not invaded their forum, because I monitored every post in those forums from the time we announced the "change" until well after that group left and there was no issue.
Ok, relooking at the top 20, it features a lot of "big" characters, mainly the Whirlwind, Faith and the main cast of their respective shows. The only ones that are kind of out of place from what you would expect are Jonathan, Andrew, and The Mayor. With Andrew, the actor is a friend of the writer's so that is going to colour the choice of having Andrew in the top 20, The Mayor was quite a fun villain and Jonathan has kind of always been there in the series so a little affection for him is not unexpected.

I can see why Angel might be so low on the list. The writer seems to be more biased towards the Buffy series than the Angel series, and Angel didn't really come into his own until his own show. The writer also put him and Angelus as separate characters, when really they're two halves of the same character. Without Angelus, Angel loses the basis of his character thus it appears you have mopey Angel and the more lively Angelus who is higher on the list. Really Angelus is Angel's dark side, not his evil twin.
 
@thetopher is right, every character gets stick on here. That's just life, no one is going to see everything in the same way. If you leave it's a personal choice because you're not enjoying it anymore. I mean there's an ignore button if you find a particular poster too annoying to keep engaging with.
 
DeadlyDuo said:
I can see why Angel might be so low on the list. The writer seems to be more biased towards the Buffy series than the Angel series, and Angel didn't really come into his own until his own show. The writer also put him and Angelus as separate characters, when really they're two halves of the same character. Without Angelus, Angel loses the basis of his character thus it appears you have mopey Angel and the more lively Angelus who is higher on the list. Really Angelus is Angel's dark side, not his evil twin.
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This is why it's so easy to say the list was done by a Spike fan. Why are Angel and Angelus listed separately? They didn't do this for Spike and Spikus right? Literally the only reason to separate the two, is so the character of Angel can be ranked low. Because if Angelus counts for Angel (like Spikus counts for Spike), then you'd have to place the character much higher. Which I'm sure this person would be allergic to, hence you separate Angel and Angelus.
 
When you consider yourself as a "shipper", it's impossible that it does not show. It's something natural for anyone, and everyone knows that if you hunt the natural, it will return to gallop 🙂
 
Cheese Slices said:
Finally, I don't mind people criticizing Spike and/or Spuffy, I am bothered by people not being able to tell fiction from reality and attacking real people over what they enjoy in a TV show. You don't know me, or any of the people who enjoy this storyline, so have the common sense to keep from making sweeping and erroneous statements about their personal lives and beliefs.
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WillowFromBuffy said:
I don't want people to stop calling out Spike's toxic behaviour. I just wish people were less crass and wouldn't make sweeping statements about whole strata of the fandom that don't reflect reality.
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Just for clarity 🙂
 
Puppet
Puppet
His flaws are literally WHY he's a favorite of mine :)
Mrs Gordo said:
In an age when Ross Gellar has become the most problematic character on social media and other progressive publications, how is Spike given a pass?
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The Ross Geller hate is ridiculous. Every single one of the Friends main cast is as homophobic, sexist, problematic as Ross or even worse. The reason Ross gets so much hate is the whole Friendzone thing, which doesn't apply to him because he did get Rachel and she does have feelings for him. Hating him for "We were on a break" is understandable but my God nitpicking every single line and gesture he makes and completely overlooking the other characters' horrible homophobic and sexist lines is absurd.

On a lighter note, I'm rewatching Friends right now and totally shipping Ross/Phoebe! I never realized how many meaningful scenes they have together and how amazing they play off each other.
 
First of all I don't quite get all this slating of Buzzfeed being Pro-Spuffy. This list represents someone's OPINION! If they like Spike as a character more than Angel as a character, and prefer Spuffy as a relationship then it makes sense that they would have bias that way. I don't see the problem with that. The person who did the list prefers Spike as a character to Angel as a character and the list reflects that.

Second there are a lot of unpopular opinions on this list, but hey I kinda dig UO😉 I totally disagree with Andrew being ranked so high, but its their opinion and they make a good argument for it.

One thing about the list for me is that some of the lower ranked characters are ones that just serve a purpose. Glory's Minions for example. I don't have a problem with them. I agree with the top two of course!🙂

Mylie said:
Kennedy lower than Hank Summers?? NO WAY.

#JusticeForKennedy

How is Warren the 23rd best buffyverse character? 😵
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Think the reasoning here is that he's a more human and shocking threat. Also the actor's performance. But yeah why too high for me. Warren just doesn't engage me the way some of the other villains do.
 
I actually find Warren a very interesting villain and this might be an unpopular opinion but I prefer Warren over The Mayor, which I never really cared for.
 
T
thrasherpix
Well, gosh
Let's keep this on topic please


I don't like this list! The ranking just doesn't make sense to me! Yes Kennedy is disliked, but she was still a better more fleshed out character than some of the others on the list.
 
Having Flutie near the top of the list I think is harsh. I much prefer Snyder, but I think Flutie has his moments too and serves a purpose.
 
If I were to write up a list of this sort then do it again a month later (without looking at what I had done before), I would come up with a different list every time. Even though Kennedy is dead last and I definitely don't see it that way, that's the author's opinion and if everyone had to be of the same opinion, we wouldn't need BB, would we?

The question we haven't asked explicitly is whether the characters are chosen for their dramatic impact, their importance to the story or whether we would like them as real-life characters who we would interact with. These would be very different lists.
 
Ethan Reigns said:
If I were to write up a list of this sort then do it again a month later (without looking at what I had done before), I would come up with a different list every time. Even though Kennedy is dead last and I definitely don't see it that way, that's the author's opinion and if everyone had to be of the same opinion, we wouldn't need BB, would we?

The question we haven't asked explicitly is whether the characters are chosen for their dramatic impact, their importance to the story or whether we would like them as real-life characters who we would interact with. These would be very different lists.
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We should start a thread and do lists like this. That would be interesting!
 
I don't have an issue with discussing Spike's faults and part of what I love about the character is that he is complex and that includes having flaws. I don't expect everyone to like the same characters and have been in fandom and enjoyed discussing and debating aspects of the show for many years now. But there isn't the same tone anywhere else I go as you get here when people dislike Spike. And this categorically isn't about not wanting to hear any criticism of him. A lot of us feel passionate about the show/characters and have contrasting interpretations, it's about a slightly nasty edge that is often within it. This can be directed at the character or even as sweeping statements about the character of the poster themselves. So despite actively engaging in character discussions many times which show clearly my willingness to debate different points of view, what I'm saying now may well be reduced to whining and/or a character woobifying attitude. It's just an unpleasant and totally unnecessary addition to having the discussions about the verse.

Spike isn't universally liked and it would be surprising if he was. But imo he tends to do well in these types of subjective lists because he had an interesting and well developed arc with spanned several seasons of the show. As I said, the fact he struggles and fails within his journey and has weaknesses is part of what makes him interesting. I can understand why certain aspects of his story/character are issues for some people and I've been involved in numerous debates here/elsewhere about these over the years. I've no problem with different perspectives and representing my pov within a reasoned discussion. I'm not looking to avoid discussion or hearing different thoughts, no matter how my perception of the different edge you get on this board may be dismissed as such. Listening to others has increased my appreciation of different characters and the show a lot over the years, including here. But we all have limited time and as I found myself having the same conversations with the same people the less welcoming aspects about having those discussions here simply resulted in me choosing to spend time elsewhere.

I hope that my membership remains active despite the critical content within my post but accept the potential it may not due to having posted this. I have only spoken out because I was mentioned specifically and my perspective along with those of others was being considered despite our lack of participation in the thread and I understandably, I think, wanted to represent myself.
 
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