Rank the S7 Mains

[PaulParmar1]

Rank the main characters of S7 based on any criteria (I'm just doing it based on likeablity & my personal preference) (only ranking characters in the opening credits)

1. Buffy - a strong empowering leader and a hero. I love love Buffy in S7 while some argue she wasn't as relatable , it's because Buffy had grown so much throughout the series as an adult and she's my absolute fav and this season just puts the icing on the cake. + the Spuffy romance helps too haha.

2. Spike - love how he got his soul back , he was sweet and in love! Spike had some of the best episodes of the season and his ultimate sacrifice was beautiful & amazing! Spike's best season easily for me. He proved how much he loved Buffy countless times & his speech in Touched was everything

3. Willow - I love Willow throughout the series, some say she never gets over her changes from S6 & some are mad at her for moving on too fast with Kennedy. What do y'all expect? Her to mope around all day . Yes I love love love Tara and Willow together but I liked Willow & Kennedy together too and Willow was great as always.

4. Anya - Anya brings the comedy and the funny this season. I loved her this season and I hated watching her die at the end. It was so beyond lame and Anya deserved better then that.

5. Dawn - Dawn I always loved contrary to some but this was my fav season for her. She stopped whining and got stronger and got some serious stuff done! Proud of Dawn this season.

6. Xander - I can't stand Xander and he's one of my least favs in the Buffyverse but I'll admit this was one of his better seasons for sure , if not his best but that's all I'll say about him.

 

[Dora]

1st) The first it was good to see Buffy being Buffy again if she was Evil

2nd)Buffy.... I think Buffy's character was permanently damaged by S6 , and in 7 her character was needy, the whole thing with Spike should not have been so intense, I read once that Whedon got her Character written in 7 as he saw her aloof from the other cast members it makes sense as Buffy was detached and partly dictatorial some of the time , that being said , Buffy's a hero

3rd) Spike certainly enjoyed Spike better this season then from before he got obsessed by Buffy 2nd half of 5
MN obsession with the good girl hero and the bad boy ruined it for me certainly did nothing for Buffy's character . The season from CWDP came all about Spike to I think the detriment of the series, I like the Spike who went after the Demon in Get it done , who chased Buffy for the rocket launcher in Him. I never understood the sacrifice thing unlike Buffy in Prophecy girl and the Gift Buffy did those thing's Knowing she was going to die 'Spike had no idea when he put the Amulet on

(4th ) not sure there is a individual fouth

Giles left Buffy for no real reason in 6 came back in 7 a completely different Character
Willow I only remember three things about Willow she thought she was Warren and two stints of magic one to get Buffy back and with the scythe
Xander started OK with Buffy like a little family , disappeared into the background with the emergence of Spike in later seasons Lovely speech to Dawn and losing a eye only remembered able thing;s he did
Andrew should have been killed off
Anya hateful speech to Buffy, killed all those frat boys etc was killed off
Dawn better this season but chucked Buffy out of her house...her sister who had died for her ?
Faith never saw enough Faith
Woods again incidental
Potential not the thier fault they could not act, had lousy accents etc

 

[Priceless]

I'm ranking on my preference to their characters in this season -

1. Buffy - I just love her in S7. She's so strong and focused. She's at a great place emotionally and she empowers everyone around her.

2. Spike - He's coming to terms with his soul, but he's not even allowed to do that when he becomes a trigger. He's changed, and learning to cope with all those changes.

3. Dawn - This is her best seaosn. She's pretty much a mini-Buffy, strong, forcused on her work as faux Watcher. She's funny and kind, and like Buffy she empowers others.

4. Xander - This is Xander's best season. He's a grown man, mature and reasoned. He's anger seems to have diminished and he's a better friend then he's ever been.

5. Willow - Like Spike, she's coming to terms with a new self and she struggles a bit, but she does work through her problems and that's great to see

6. Anya - Similar to Spike and Willow, she's also working through a new self, coming to term with who she was and who she wants to be. I think she does find herself before she's killed and that's a positive

It feels like they can be separated into two catagories, Buffy, Dawn and Xander, all being their best selves, and Spike, Willow and Anya trying to figure out who they are.

 

[Puppet]

Haven't seen S7 in a while, so bear with me, this may not be as true as I claim it to be 🙂

1. Xander - I just find him so mature and kind and patient and just the absolute best Xander that he can be. He remains completely human but still makes such a difference, episode to episode. He also goes through such loss, first his eye, then Anya, but shows he has the strength to pull through. Very inspiring.

2. Dawn - Again, much like with Xander, she has matured so much since we met her back in Real Me, has come so far and can now be trusted not to act out and put everyone around her in danger. She's still a young girl, of course, dancing around with pizza and breaking the wall in CWDP, so I find that the balance of mature and child very intriguing and, in fact, very balanced. Love her through all, but especially in Potential and Chosen.

3. Spike - Obviously this journey of his is impressive to watch, astounding really, as he returns to the Hellmouth with his soul intact. Unlike Angel showing up with one, we get to see every step, one more difficult than the last, that he takes to becoming the hero he is in Chosen. There are some missteps along the way, but they just serve to teach him what not to do for the future. Like with Xander, it's a very inspiring journey.

4. Buffy & Willow - They get to share a spot. Willow would've been in between Xander and Dawn if not for the Kennedy subplot, so here she is instead. Both women are strong and resilient in this season, but they are also given plots that don't sit well with me, either for being very OOC or just very uncomfortable to watch unfold.

5. Anya - She is completely wasted in this season, except for the brilliance that is Selfless.

 

[MarieVampSlayer]

1. Buffy - she's just the best, i don't care if people hate her in S7 I will always stand by her 🙂

2. Spike - I love a strong, mature, William-like Spike. He is a true hero in S7.

3. Willow - She finally learns to feel her pain and move on from it. And her spell in Chosen is AMAZING!!!

4. Dawn - The best Dawn we have seen in all the season, this is what she should have been from the start - Intelligent, compassionate and brave!

5. Xander - I know he matured and all but I still feel he was underused in this season. He should have been more developt so we could see his new side.

6. Anya - To quote @Puppet she was underused in this season, except for the brilliance that is Selfless and her funny lines with Andrew. She should not have died!!!! What a waste!

 

[fauxindigo]

Dawn by far her best season! She's more mature, strong, smart, funny & sweet.
Anya love that she "found" herself, redeemed herself, gave up her powers and fought the final fight and remained funny as ever.
Willow she does good this season- especially to make up for her shitshow in Season 6.

Xander oh Xander.. way to get your eye poked out. 🙄 you think he'd be a more skilled and prepared fighter by now.
Spike definitely my least favorite season for Spike which is weird considering it's the only one he actually has a soul in. I prefer him with a soul in Angel Season 5 though- he's so much more fun!
Buffy she has her good moments but how she was written once the potentials and Faith came into the picture was unfortunately not good. She should've been such a good leader by Season 7 but instead we are treated to her admitted superiority complex. I would've written her to be much more involved in the potentials roles- like Faith said towards the end of the season- Buffy didn't even know half the potentials names-- and maybe that's why the viewers didn't either.

 

[thetopher]

1. Dawn: Season 7 Dawn is the culmination of her 3 season journey; she is mature, brave, kick-ass, supportive, mostly non-judgmental, charming and funny. Her character-focused episode 'Potential' is probably Dawn's best episode since her introduction and she has some real good solo stuff in 'CWDP', she threatened to set Spike on fire! Her one down-side is telling Buffy to leave in 'Empty Places' but I found it hard to care too deeply by then.

2. Xander: Strange that in a season where he gets very little focus he's actually the glue that holds the Summers house together for most of the chaos this season. He's great in the beginning episodes as part of the family unit, his non-relationship with Anya is probably one of the most accurate 'exes' working together' that the show produces, he's pretty non-judgmental about some of Buffy's questionable decisions.
Also he never really loses faith in Buffy until he is brutally mutilated in the course of following her and then starts to have doubts. It's a shame that this life-altering injury comes too late to actually be explored in any real depth but overall he is interesting to watch and likable in his attempts to help and support his friends; he gives two of the best speeches this season; one to Dawn and one about Buffy.

3. Willow: Alyson Hannigan does a lot with a little; her relationship with Kennedy is the only real downside but the rest is really quite good. Yes, she has no real 'redemption arc' because the writers chose to think of her downward spiral throughout S6 as 'an event that happened' and not anything really to do with her character's obvious flaws. That sucks but its not all the characters fault; anyway she still manages to inject some angst and humanity into her performance (I also include her appearance in 'Orpheus' here and that bumps her up a bit) and her two Willow-centric episodes (one good and one bad) really gave her arc a bit more heft.
I still what she went though could've been handled a lot better but overall I liked her.

4. Anya: Her one episode 'Selfless' is good enough to elevate her above the almost non-stop snarky commentary she mostly provides; she is a wasted character this season but she has some nice dialogue with Xander and Andrew. Also she isn't deliberately hateful or unpleasant, so that puts her above Spike.

5. Buffy: What can I say; having the main character at near bottom is...depressing. It's because I expect more of her and in the previous 6 seasons she has never really disappointed. She starts off... okay? But from about the middle section to right before the 21st episode she is just a bad leader and I'm not convinced as to why she's so bad, so idiotic, so lacking in humanity or empathy that she alienates all those who know her the best.
Her 'potential training' borders on the murderous, her speeches are- more the most part- preach-y and self-important (or downright nasty in one case) her over-reliance on Spike has her coming across as some sort of emotional cripple saddled with both sexual trauma and emotional guilt.
It's telling that SMG didn't actually know how to play Buffy that well for most of this season; she had more fun playing the First Evil.
Thank god for those last two episodes where she gets to interact with people as the Buffy of old; not just the Scoobies but Angel and Faith as well. Quipping as she kills the bad guy and giving a more humble, and actual decent/ empowering speech at last. Buffy in the battle of the Hellmouth was a magnificent heroine worth rooting for, but it was a long road to get there.

6. Spike: Oof, what a character, what an arc. It amazes me that almost every step in Spike's journey this season is a massive missed opportunity for something interesting. I will say that I liked 'crazy in the basement' Spike the best for he was the most intriguing, the most full of possibilities. But after; from 'Sleeper' onward he is the worst; a plot-device, agent of the enemy, obnoxious self-hating creep, damsel to be rescued; and then in the span of a couple of episodes getting over his 'humanity' issues and going back to being 'Big Bad' Spike with softer edges was beyond lazy.
Center stage for large parts of the season he does nothing particularly note-worthy except proclaim his love and motives to Buffy (which has the desired effect) and punches people in the face for no real reason; lauded but unaccountable, self-important but hollow, colorful yet ultimately uninteresting, the nadir of his character is his truly repugnant turn in 'LMPTM' where- to me- we see the true quality of Spike's character.
At least he gets a memorable death and a chance to redeem himself on another show; otherwise a failure.

I would include Andrew, Giles and Faith in this list since they had impact on the plot and they survived the finale; I'd put them all higher than Anya with Faith in joint second with Xander, then Andrew and then Giles (my least favorite Giles is still pretty good).

 

[Antho]

Just a list without explanations because I'm lazy :

- Dawn
- Faith
- Willow
- Anya
- Xander
- Giles
- Buffy/Spike (the problem I have with one is tied with the other so they share the same place).

 

[Bop]

1. Willow- I think Willow's arc was satisfying this season, she comes back from turning evil and losing Tara quite well (although she's let off way too easy), and I believe that she's recovering and changed for the better. I'm happy with who Willow ended up as, she ends up a lot humbler, confident and comfortable with herself compared to earlier seasons.
2. Dawn- I think Dawn as a person grows a lot in season 7 however as a character season 5 will always be the best Dawn- they could have given Dawn more relevance in season 7 but it's cool to see her growing up into a fighter- she's a slayer at heart, and she's so brave- to stand up to your beloved sister when you believe she's wrong, fight monsters and the police. I'm so proud.
3. Xander- Xander really gets to show off his importance this season, but I've always seen him positively so it doesn't hit me as hard as it maybe hits others who didn't like him in the early seasons.
4. Buffy- Buffy is still tragically endearing, at points I feel she's so confused and alienating to those around that I just want to cuddle her but this season there's certain things- Robin, empty places etc. where I just don't understand where she's coming from. I feel very disconnected at points.
5. Anya- Selfless was cool but I don't think her character arc makes sense.
6. Spike- Robin, certain personality traits that personally turn me off. I think the writers don't understand their audience at this point- I can't comprehend how they expect me to care for Spike and "give a piss" about his mother, his pain and his story when he, of his own free will, tells Robin he doesn't give a piss about killing Nikki.

 

[Mrs Gordo]

1. Dawn: She is brave and kind and strong and compassionate. She's like s2/3 Buffy. It's lovely to see her grow into her own here.
2. Xander: It's crazy that Xander is ranked so high but on re-watch, I'm just floored by how much he acts as the voice of reason. He is nothing like the Xander I see in early seasons but somehow I believe that his experiences in s6 organically made him who he is in s7.
3. Willow: I'm not done with my s7 re-watch yet but so far my main complaint is not enough Willow. She gets her Willow episodes but outside of those episodes, I don't feel we get enough time with her. But this is partly because we have to split our time with so many cast and character including the Potentials. Willow had such a huge bombshell of an arc last season that she needs a full-on redemption arc of a season and unfortunately I don't think that s7 was set up to give that to her. But what I do get I enjoy. Mostly I feel very sympathetic to Willow's guilt and her pain. I don't like Kennedy but that has nothing to do with Willow.
4. Buffy: I would follow Buffy into the mouth of hell if she asked me to, she is my hero but the reasons that I love her have very little to do with this season. I enjoy her in a few episodes here and there and in some small windows. Lessons, for example. But mostly Buffy feels so strange to me this season. Like she is on some sort of medication that has dulled her personality and also made her a bit insensitive. I do rally behind her come Chosen time and I have high hopes for her once the finale ends with her little smile and the knowledge that maybe life will be better because she has once again changed the rules.
5. Spike: So much of this season is contingent upon my caring about Spike's redemption. There are times when I do, for short periods of time, but overall I'm not that invested and so I lose interest quickly. Some of the stuff he says to Buffy makes me want to smack him.
6. Anya: I'm not really a big Anya fan to begin - although I do enjoy her. But what seals the deal for me this season is Empty Places. Whereas the comments from the other Scoobies are so wildly OOC - I can kinda headcanon that some strange poltergeist phenomenon invaded the house and made everyone really stupid and mean - I completely buy Anya when she speaks up here. I don't belive that Anya respects Buffy nor does she find her particularly heroic. So when Anya says this which is the worst thing ever I kinda hate her for it:

"We don't know if you're actually better. I mean, you came into the world with certain advantages, sure. I mean, that's the legacy. But you didn't earn it. You didn't work for it. ... They were just handed to you. So that doesn't make you better than us. It makes you luckier than us."

Maybe this is a particularly sore spot for me as this argument is repeatedly made against Angel as well and I'm always saying "no it's what you do with the soul/calling/power that's important." So when I see the argument fleshed out on the show and directed at Buffy - I'm just like yeah you can just eff off with that.

 

[Monkey Pants]

These are my favorite characters to watch in season 7 (not all necessarily mains though):
1. Faith
2. Buffy
3. Willow
4. Kennedy
5. Dawn

6. Anya

7. Xander
8. Andrew
9. Giles
10. Spike