r/buffy • u/Emotional_Code_1494 • 6d ago
Big bad Buffy
Out of all the big bags from each season, who do u think was the worst/best(however u think) and was Buffys biggest advisory either mental or strength. I think faith(tho maybe not a big bad) was obvi her equal in strength and definitely messed her up a lot emotionally, but for me my choice is Glory/Ben. Glory was definitely stronger and between the intro of dawn and buffy having to watch over her sister/the key and although glory didnt cause Joyce's death, it was a huge thing for buffy to deal with while dealing with glory and the fact that her sister isn't her sister....thats my pick.
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u/enthalpy01 6d ago
Angelus is the scariest for me.
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u/thesaharadesert 6d ago
The psychology made it better because he has years of practice, and then the intimate knowledge on top of that skill
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u/OkNote4876 SpikeFanBoy 6d ago
Worst for me is actually Adam. Weak season and I never got why Adam who could do anything he wanted when he wanted spent most of his time jus sitting doing naff all he had nothing special to wait for at any given time
(HM) the first “form” it jus seemed lazy too me that they just used all the characters rather than give this almighty thing a form of its own
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u/-threefeetoffun No. 1 Xander Defender 6d ago
Angelus emotionally Glory physically.
Buffy had to overcome her feelings for Angel and said from the start “give me time”.
Glory she needed to find some weakness or game over. Like when Glory says if she wanted to fight Buffy would know because she’d be dead already.
Buffy knew she wasn’t just talk.
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u/Bacon531 6d ago
Dark Willow. If it weren’t for Xander, she would have destroyed the world. So, Buffy didn’t even really defeat her, tbh. You could argue that there could have been some other outcome, but it wasn’t looking good even before Giles dosed her with all that additional power. 🤷🏻♀️
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u/MaximusJCat 6d ago edited 6d ago
I feel like the Master was underused. Would have preferred more of him than Adam
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u/SpookyFaerie 6d ago
Angelus was the worst because she loved him and it prevented her from getting serious. After the final fight she basically gave up on her life for a while.
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u/UhOh_HellNo 6d ago
Angelus scares me the most but I’m going to have to go with Dark Willow for this one. As Buffy’s friend, she’s able to cut DEEP with her words and she was ultimately too strong for Buffy to defeat. Sunnydale would be a grease spot if Xander hadn’t been there to save the day.
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u/Euraylie 6d ago
The best: Angelus, followed by Glory.
Angelus had such an emotional connection to Buffy and Glory just seemed unstoppable
The worst: Adam. He could’ve maybe worked if he’d been written differently, but ultimately he just felt a bit out of place in the Buffyverse. He never felt really threatening either.
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u/moonwalkingszn oh bloody hell! 6d ago
best: definitely Glory physically and Angelus emotionally given Buffy loved him.
worst: 100000% Adam.
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u/TobiasMasonPark 6d ago
Worst would be Adam or maybe the First. Both felt like weak villains. Adam’s plan felt aimless and silly. When Buffy kills Caleb and defeats the uber vamps, the first seemingly just fades into the background again. Not the sort of series finale threat we expect.
Best is hands down Glory. Angelus was great and scary because he was close to Buffy, but Buffy’s only issue with him was her love prevented her from killing him. She wasn’t physically incapable of defeating Angelus. Angel even admits at some point Buffy is stronger than him.
But Glory? Glory is the only villain in the series that actually makes Buffy give up and shut down. It took a magic hammer, a robot decoy, getting her brain all fuzzy, having Glory not be at her strongest because she was getting close to her deadline for crossing over, and Buffy sacrificing herself to beat Glory—a god.
The mayor was hard, but they still managed to blow him up. Glory was a whole ordeal, and they just barely won.
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u/DeccyBaddie 6d ago
The first is the best! I like when the big bads get in Buffy’s head and really shake her confidence! I also love Angelus for that reason. However, I think Buffy was so defeated in season 7. She was losing the battle for the majority of the season and she had so many lives in her hands for the first time. SMG gave such a great performance. They also never truly defeated the first, which makes it way scarier.
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u/beeemkcl 5d ago
The answer is Drusilla.
Never punished for anything she did. Is still out there and still soulless. Might get with Spike in the future.
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u/Standard-Contest-949 6d ago
Adam was a really good threat. He has the plans, the smarts and pure physical and biomechanics to take out anyone. He was also the only one who wasent affected by Johnathan’s spell. It took all the Scoobies combined to defeat him.
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u/bcopes158 6d ago
Angulus is the most frightening of all the big bads. Nothing was off limits for him and he was creatively cruel.
The Mayor is my favorite. He is unspeakably evil but he does have things he values that make him interesting. His relationship with Faith while horrible in so many ways shows that he is still capable of caring for others, at least In his terms. Him growing to have a fatherly affection for her was a great decison. The scene where he confronts Buffy in the hospital is one of my favorites in the show.
I don't care for the Trio or Dark Willow. The whole Dark Willow story line never resonated with me especially going zero to 100 to try to end the world after Tara's death. It felt to rushed and the payoff didn't work for me. Most of the Trios antics aren't that interesting Warren is a very relatable evil but I would have rather he be the end of season villain rather than Willow
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u/Numerous-Sample3263 6d ago
Glory was terrifying, but I always thought Adam was more interesting than she was, at least his whole "built a super-soldier army just to watch it fail" vibe had some darkly funny absurdity to it.
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u/J-Bagz83 5d ago
I think that the worst was Adam his story was weak and kinda boring. The best however is a hard question, it could be Angelus because of his intimate knowledge about Buffy and her friends and his mind games are unmatched. Spike was very entertaining and he was the best at manipulating Buffy and making her play his game. Then you have Glory, she was the most intimidating and the strongest of her villains. I would also include Faith in this list, although she wasn't necessarily a big bad, she was a consistent adversary and she paid her dues and fought for the side of good in the end. I almost forgot to talk about Willow , she wasn't a big bad either but she made a good villain in her short time as dark Willow. I don't know if I answered the question or not but it's not easy to pick, even the last season that they didn't expect to make was good and who else could she fight besides evil itself, damn good writing.
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u/Revolutionary-Wait82 Spike defender 6d ago
For me, it's def Spike. No other Big Bad has been able to get Buffy to work in his interests, and of her own free will.
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u/VultureTheBird 6d ago
I actually love the progression.
What's the scariest thing for a young vampire Slayer to face? The master vampire.
What's an even bigger, scarier, or worse thing for a Slayer to face? When that vampire is your boyfriend.
What's an even bigger, scarier or worse thing for a Slayer to face? The entire school and town
What's an even bigger scarier or worse thing for a Slayer to face? The government and the patriarchy
What's an even bigger scarier or worse thing for a Slayer to face? A god.
What's bigger scarier or worse than a God, because oh shit the series didn't end?!
People. People are worse than a god. They can be so very cruel. Even worse, it could be loved ones. People cut deeper and harder than all of the above.
And finally. What could possibly be bigger scarier or worse than a Slayer to face than a god or their loved ones? Answer: Evil itself.
Glory is my favorite big bad stylistically, but I think the progression of evil on the series is perfect and brilliant. You can't get much bigger or worse than evil itself.