Buffy the Vampire Slayer/YMMV: Difference between revisions
adding example
m (update links) |
(adding example) |
||
| (18 intermediate revisions by 8 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{work}}
* [[Adaptation Displacement]]
* [[Alas, Poor Villain]]: Ampata from "Inca Mummy Girl", in-universe and out of it.
Line 31 ⟶ 6:
** While pants-soilingly disturbing, the most heavy-handed part of "Gingerbread" ( about prejudice) was when Cordelia fire hosed down the brainwashed parents.
* [[Angst Dissonance]]: Buffy in season 6. Yes, it must have been absolutely terrible to be ripped out of heaven into earth, which can really suck, but after hearing Buffy complain about it for the entire season gets really grating. She still has a good life, despite having the burden of being a slayer. Of course, in real life it would take a long time to be able to get over such an ordeal, but fiction, especially television, is allowed to speed up grieving as so not make the viewer want to smack Buffy in the face to get her to shut up.
** In addition, while Buffy's traumatic experience is entirely worthy of sympathy and she desperately needs support, there are still healthy ways of dealing with problems/asking for help, and then there are non-healthy ways. Buffy's willful, headlong, prolonged, and repeated wallow in the latter starts to get on the viewer's nerves after a while. Her friends being of little or no help, or mysteriously absent, doesn't win them any points either.
* [[Anticlimax Boss]]: Played with in the premiere with [[Public Domain Character|Dracula]]. Though he demonstrates powers no other vampire in the series has, he's still treated like a bad joke by Spike, and easily defeated. {{spoiler|Subverted on his return in season eight.}}
* [[Badass Decay]]: Formerly known as Spikeification, as Spike went from an intimdating presence who was [[Evil Is Cool|cool in his evil-doing]] and [[Manipulative Bastard|clever enough]] to fool ''Angelus'', to a sort of [[Butt Monkey]] who lost most of his cool, and nearly ''all'' of his evil and cleverness. He got over it by Season 7, and completely inverted it when he moved to LA afterwards.
** It's the price that had to be paid for keeping Spike around. S2 & S3 Spike was established as ''such'' a badass, that Buffy could never have a conceiveable excuse for ''not'' dusting him if she got the opportunity to, and badass Spike, would of course kill Buffy if he could. The two could only co-exist if Spike was rendered to be a non-threat, such as the chip he gets in S4. Of course a harmless Spike is anything but a
* [[
** [[The Men in Black]] subplot of "Out of Mind, Out of Sight" which was never brought up or mentioned again, not even when the Initiative showed up or when the army went against the Slayers in Season 8.
* [[Bittersweet Ending]]: Most of the season finales.
* [[Bizarro Episode]]: "Restless" certainly qualifies.
* [[Brain Bleach]] And all the pesky moral questions about who gets to prescribe it.
* [[Broken Base]]: The comics: good or bad? Canon or not?
* [[Complete Monster]]:
** Angelus, very thoroughly.
** Lothos from the movie was the first example (and the first villain) to be faced by Buffy.
** Adam, depending on whether having been built to be a killer excuses him.
** The First Evil's servant, [[Sinister Minister|Caleb]], definitely.
** Zachary Kralik, insane vampire with [[Mommy Issues]] who kidnaps and torments Joyce to lure Buffy in. At a point in the series when vampires were more or less [[Mooks]] he manages to be genuinely threatening on the basis of nothing but his own utter hideousness.
** Der Kinderstod, a Freddy Kruger-esque demon who's murdered children in the sleep [[For the Evulz]], including Buffy's own cousin.
Line 50 ⟶ 30:
* [[Crossover Ship]]: Connor/Dawn has a surprisingly large army of supporters.
** Not so surprising if one stops to consider [[Birds of a Feather|how different yet remarkably similar their circumstances are]], not to mention [[Angst|how they deal with said circumstances]].
* [[Darkness-Induced Audience Apathy]]: Joss has admitted he loved each individual idea for season 6 so much that he didn't stop to consider that maybe having them all happen ''at the same time'' wouldn't be the best idea.
* [[Designated Protagonist Syndrome]]: It's arguable, but there are quite a lot of fans who don't especially care for Buffy herself. ''Especially'' in the last season, when she starts giving those "I'm-better-than-all-of-you-and-you're-all-gonna-die" inspirational speeches.
* [[Deconstruction Fic]]: [http://www.tthfanfic.org/Story-11643/Hotpoint+Compelled+to+Play+Again.htm Compelled].
* [[Draco in Leather Pants]]: Spike is a standout example.
** Faith. Those pants are personally responsible for some sympathetic views of Faith in fanfic. And lots of [[Freudian Excuse
* [[Ensemble Darkhorse]]: Spike. It's clear that he was a major character from the get go (but originally just for Season 2), and the writers always liked the character, but it seems like nobody quite expected ''just how much'' [[Breakout Character|everyone was going to love him]]. Many, many ''Buffy'' fans consider him the best character in the show, to the point where despite the weirdness of his relationship with Buffy in Season 6 there are still a vast number of Spike/Buffy shippers about.
** Faith has her own share of this. She was originally planned to live for only five episodes. Fast-forward about four years and a plurality of the fandom would cheerfully have had her replace Buffy as the protagonist.
* [[Fan Dumb]] / [[Hate Dumb]]: It's not as obvious nowadays, but when it was airing, complaining about Buffy was one of the two things the internet did. The other was gushing over it.
* [[Fan-Preferred Couple]]: Willow/Oz. Or [[Ensemble Darkhorse|Tara.]]
Line 88 ⟶ 70:
{{quote|'''Olaf''': YOU DO WELL TO FLEE, TOWNSPEOPLE! I WILL PILLAGE YOUR LANDS AND DWELLINGS! I WILL BURN YOUR CROPS AND MAKE MERRY WITH YOUR MORE ATTRACTIVE DAUGHTERS! HA HA HA! MARK MY WORDS! (Pauses and sniffs the air) OOH! ALE! I SMELL ''DELICIOUS ALE!''.}}
** There was also Balthazar the fat demon, and the original [[Big Bad]], the Master.
* [[Launcher of a Thousand Ships]]: Faith. And Wishverse Willow.
* [[Les Yay]]: Willow and Tara, before their relationship became explicitly romantic. According to Alyson, Joss worked very carefully to create the right subtext in their scenes together. Creators have also acknowledged lesbian subtext between Buffy and Faith and say in the commentary that it was fun to play with.
* [[Magnificent Bastard]]: Spike, though Ethan Rayne had a moment or two, as do the Master, Faith, and even Angelus.
Line 95 ⟶ 77:
{{quote|'''Buffy''': They're trapped in here. Terrified. Meat for the beast, and there's nothing they can do but wait. That's all they've been doing for days. Waiting to be picked off. Having nightmares about monsters that can't be killed. But I don't believe in that. I always find a way. I'm the thing that monsters have nightmares about. And right now, you and me are gonna show 'em why. It's time. [[Mad Max|Welcome to Thunderdome.]]}}
** Also, in a more unusual example, Xander. By any [[Real Life]] standards, Xander is [[Badass]] simply by merit of the fact that he's still alive after ''seven years'' of fighting the Good Fight (or more, depending on whether you count the Season 8 comics as canon). In many a [[Fanfic]], this is taken [[Up to Eleven]], and Xander effectively becomes the merciless god of his universe.
* [[Moral Event Horizon]]:
** Angelus' murder of Jenny Calender.
** D'Hoffryn in "Selfless" after {{spoiler|he kills Anya's best friend when she was expecting to be able to sacrifice herself to bring the people she killed back to life}}. He was more of an [[Affably Evil]] guy before.
*** This moment is made especially disturbing by his casual comment that "he has plenty of girls", making him sound less like an amusing albeit demonic office boss and more like a pimp.
** The Trio were just considered a nuisance until Warren accidentally killed his ex Katrina and made Buffy think she did it. Then, there was "Normal Again"...
** "Family": "Tara, if you don't get in that car I swear by God I'm gonna beat you down."
** Glory - she was a [[Hate Sink]] almost from the start, and [[Mind Rape]]ing poor Tara solidified it.
** There was some debate among fans whether Giles did this in "The Gift" by killing Ben. Yes, it was justified, given what Ben had done and what he likely ''would'' do, but it doesn't change the fact that Ben was injured and helpless at the time. If anything, it downgraded him to [[Unscrupulous Hero]].
* [[Nightmare Fuel]]: While most of the things that take place in the universe are pretty creepy and disturbing with a hint of dark humor, Skinless Warren in the comics will haunt you, even if he does still have the same dorky ass persona from before.
* [[One True Pairing]]: Angel and Buffy. While both date other people and fall in love with other people, in the end it always comes back to their [[Star-Crossed Lovers|tragic and doomed relationship]], to the point of them eventually planning to be together when Buffy is ready/when Angel becomes human. Also to the point that it can become extremely annoying.
** Joss' policy was always "bring your own subtext," and he never really had any pairings set in stone. [[Sarah Michelle Gellar]] still thinks that Buffy and Xander were supposed to end up together.
*** SMG actually pitched that idea to the writers for the season 7 romance subplot. They didn't agree.
* [[One True Threesome]]: Buffy\Angel\Spike; between her fantasies of the two vampires oil wrestling and another fantasy of her in a nurse outfit chained to them naked, is officially canon. Even today no matter how much of a sweetheart Spike is Buffy gets all squiggly at the merest mention of Angel.
* [[Rescued
* [[Retroactive Recognition]]:
** [[CSI: NY|Danny Messer]] being bitten by Darla in the pilot.
** Agent Seeley Booth ([[Bones]]) got his own spinoff (''[[Angel]]'')
** Billy "Ford" Fordham ("Lie to Me") is best known as [[Roswell|Max Evans]].
** In "Reptile Boy", Machida, underneath the scales, is actually [[Babylon 5|Byron]].
** One of the members of the school swim team in "Go Fish" is [[Prison Break|Michael Scofield]].
** Saverio Guerra, who played Willy the Snitch, is best known as Bob from ''[[Becker]]''.
** Billy Fordham from "Lie to Me". [[Roswell]] fans know him as Max, but seven years later, Jason Behr & SMG would be reunited for ''[[The Grudge]]''.
** Scott Hope is played by Fab Fillipo, who went on to star in ''[[Queer as Folk]]''. It should as no surprise, then, that Scott [[Reality Subtext|came out of the closet]] in passing.
** [[Austin Powers|Scott Evil]] flies the ''[[Mass Effect|Normandy]]''.
** Gwendolyn Post is [[The World Is Not Enough|Dr. Molly Warmflash]].
** [[Nathan Fillion]] was fresh from ''[[Firefly]]''. Whatever fan glee existed surrounding his arrival was crushed after Caleb's true colors were revealed five minutes in. People watching the show for the first time now, will likely recognise him as ''[[Castle]]''.
** Cordette #1 (the girl who is drained by The Master's blood machine in "The Wish"), Nicole Bilderback, played opposite [[Seth Green]] in the 1998 movie ''[[Can't Hardly Wait]]''. She also appeared in ''[[Bring It On]]'' with Clare Kramer (Glory) and [[Eliza Dushku]].
** [[Kal Penn]], more well known as [[Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle|Kumar]] and [[House|Kutner]] shows up as a random college student in "Beer Bad".
* [[Scapegoat Creator]]: Marti Noxon.
* [[The Scrappy]]: Kennedy, Riley and Dawn (see [[Creator's Pet]]).
** Willow was a Scrappy Generator. Oz started out as a scrappy because he wasn't Xander. Tara started out as a scrappy because she wasn't Oz. Kennedy was a scrappy because she wasn't Tara.
** Basically everyone is The Scrappy to someone. '''Especially''' Buffy herself, mainly in the show's later seasons.
** [[Take That, Scrappy!]]: Willow reams out Dawn for being a whiny crybaby in "Two To Go". And in the comics, she {{spoiler|breaks up with Kennedy.}}
*** There was also when Buffy snarked about Dawn's position as a [[Damsel Scrappy]].
* [[Seasonal Rot]]: Seasons 4, 6, and 7 are the least-regarded seasons of the series.
Line 118 ⟶ 117:
* [[Values Dissonance]]: ''Villains'' is full of it. After the things Warren does, including nearly killing Buffy, he comes back, shoots Buffy and kills Tara. Apparently Willow wanting to kill him for these things is wrong, with Buffy about the only one not going for it.
** Because Willow was trying to murder for ''revenge'' - justice had nothing to do with it. While Warren ''is'' an asshole (at least [[Jumping Off the Slippery Slope|after his actions to this point]]), the episode posits that killing for revenge, while not without reason, is ''objectively'' wrong. More to the point, killing him didn't make her feel any better in the long run and only drove her further down the path of evil - whether or not Warren deserved it, Andrew and Jonathan didn't.
*** If you want more confirmation of the franchise's opinion on vengeance as a whole (i.e., that it ultimately serves no good purpose, harms the innocent indiscriminately along with the guilty, and ultimately destroys you more than it destroys the target of vengeance) just look at the gypsies that cursed Angelus, or the entire Holtz arc on Angel.
** For that matter, several of the Scoobs would gladly have wasted Warren themselves and said so, they just didn't want Willow OD'ing on black magic to do it.
* [[Values Resonance]]: Season 6 got a better reception over time due to the rise of the incel movement and that the depression was treated well.{{verify}} <!-- A better reception? From who? -->
* [[Villain Decay]]: The Turok-han suffer this hard once there's [[Conservation of Ninjutsu|more than one of them.]]
* [[Wangst]]
Line 123 ⟶ 125:
* [[X Meets Y]]: Whedon described the show as ''[[My So-Called Life]]'' meets ''[[The X-Files]]''.
* [[Demonic Spiders]]: Actual demonic spiders at that. They're quick, knock Buffy down in one hit (intsakill on low health) and can not be punched.
* [[Genius Bonus]]. In a bid to be resurrected, The Master possesses Angel. In the first episode of season two The Master was not played by Mark Medcraft, but David Boreanaz.
* [[Good Bad Bugs]]: When certain enemies are killing Buffy it's easy to go to the inventory and heal.
* [[Les Yay]]: Willow keeps referring to Tara as sweetie, and makes comment on playing doctors and nurses with her. As an alternate world vampire, Tara says Willow is a domme.
Line 132 ⟶ 134:
{{reflist}}
[[Category:YMMV]]
[[Category:{{TOPLEVELPAGE}}]]
[[Category:Multiple Works Need Separate Pages]]
| |||