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Created by Joss Whedon, Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a genre-blending TV series that ran from 1997 to 2003 and follows Buffy Summers, a girl in high school who is chosen by fate to be a slayer of demons and vampires. Buffy has an inner circle of friends who fight evil alongside her, and one of the founders of this Scooby Gang is Xander Harris. He is a core character in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and is often teased as a potential villain in the show, according to reports.
Xander is one of the only non-supernatural characters in Buffy’s core group and is someone who fights evil without magic, strength, or powers. However, he is also portrayed as a jealous, insecure and immature person with glimpses of toxic masculinity, which often causes conflict. This suggests that he could easily be corrupted and right there a prime candidate for bringing out an evil shade in his character.
Read on to explore the details.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer subtly suggests Xander might be the potential villain
After Season 3, when the characters graduated from high school, the writers had clear arcs planned for Buffy, Willow, and even Giles. But with Xander, things got murkier as he wasn’t going to college, a reason to separate him from the group. He is already different from the rest of the members as he lacks supernatural traits or a distinct mission. Rumours and fan theories suggest that early drafts floated the idea of Xander being recruited, turning him into a soldier and possibly putting him at odds with Buffy. Instead, that role was filled by Riley Finn, Buffy’s love interest, making Xander feel even more sidelined.
According to a report by ScreenRant, the writers were also struggling to keep Xander relevant as other group members' powers increased. Season 5 features Glory, the godlike villain who was revealed to share a body with a human host: Ben. Allegedly, at some point in the writers' room, there was a pitch (or at least speculation) that Xander would be the human half of Glory. This would have connected the narrative to the sudden appearance of Dawn, Buffy's mystical sister and the larger idea that Xander is "planted" intentionally in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
What happened with Xander in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, finally?
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Several instances happened in the show that teased Xander's transformation to a villain, like when he is possessed by a hyena spirit, making him aggressive, cruel, and predatory in season 1 itself. In the alternate timeline created by Anya, in season 3, Xander is turned into a vampire and partners with Vampire Willow. He’s vicious and sadistic, unrecognisable from his real-world self. In season 7, Xander is the only core cast member missing from the crucial, introspective episode, which explores characters' deepest traumas and vulnerabilities in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
In the final season 7, the thematic weight of Xander of being Buffy’s oldest friend overpowered him being taken over by an evil power and the writer came to a decision that though it might give him a full character arc—from loyal human support system to ultimate enemy, it might betray the emotional core of the show. The show’s emotional loyalty was to the Scooby Gang and their enduring bond, even through dysfunction. However, the comic book series published by Boom! Studios, ends the way the series teased throughout— by turning Xander into a Villain.
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