Willow Rosenberg
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 Alyson Hannigan as Willow |
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Willow Danielle Rosenberg (born either in 1980 or very early 1981 in Sunnydale, California) is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the cult television program, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She was portrayed by Alyson Hannigan, who also played the character in three episodes of the show's spin-off, Angel. Riff Regan played Willow in an unaired pilot that sold Buffy, and Adam Busch played another version, thanks to a spell, as an alternate character whose personality seeped into her, in the seventh season episode "The Killer in Me". Willow is the show's only character known to be Jewish as well as one of the most prominent lesbian characters in American television.
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[edit] Character history
Willow Danielle Rosenberg was the only child of Sheila and Ira Rosenberg. Her supercilious and distant mother, a psychologist, appeared in season three's "Gingerbread". Under the influence of a demon, she tried to burn her daughter at the stake for being a witch, and though she lost much of her memory of the incident, Willow did not. Willow may have inherited from her a strong sense of outrage against political injustice, especially that committed against Native Americans. Her father, never seen, is hinted to be equally uninvolved. Her middle name was given as Danielle in an early draft of the script for season three's "Bad Girls": "If my parents hadn't settled on 'Danielle,' Danger would be my middle name."
In the first few seasons, Willow was a shy, naïve loner with a light, risqué sense of humor. A member of the Math, Science and Computer clubs, she was the person to go to for tutoring help. She was ridiculed by her more popular classmates, including cheerleaders Cordelia Chase and Harmony Kendall. A fledgling hacker, she was one of two students at Sunnydale High to be selected to be wooed by an unnamed, but very prestigious software company, and was chosen to teach computer science after Jenny Calendar was murdered. She had a hopeless crush on her childhood friend Xander Harris, who ignored her to pursue his equally hopeless crush on Buffy Summers and later, a relationship with Cordelia Chase. Before Xander developed feelings for the latter, he and Willow had been charter members of the "We Hate Cordelia" Club.
Willow soon became Buffy's best friend. When they discovered Calendar's secret project, Willow told Buffy that she had gone through her former favorite teacher's belongings, and dabbled in magic. After performing the Ritual of Restoration, she continued to learn magic even though she did not learn of her success in restoring Angel's soul until "Faith, Hope & Trick". She developed a romantic relationship with Daniel 'Oz' Osborne, a guitarist in the local band Dingoes Ate My Baby, which survived Oz's revelation as a werewolf and a kiss with Xander while being held hostage. She also met her demonic alter ego in season three's "Doppelgängland", where her vampire Doppelgänger counterpart groped the "real" Willow as well as Xander.
At UC Sunnydale, Willow and Buffy moved across town to Room 214 in Stevenson Hall. After Oz's dramatic departure, Willow joined the campus Wicca group, a disappointing experience but for the presence of Tara Maclay. After discovering each other's magic, they became friends and later, lovers and soulmates, sharing one of the few lesbian relationships portrayed in American television. Although she manifested a crush for Xander early on in the series and established a long-running and sexually active relationship with Oz before coming out as a lesbian, it is not an uncommon experience for lesbians to go through.
Willow's magical skills first peaked in "Bargaining", the season six opener. She led Tara, Xander and Anya in raising Buffy from the dead. Afterwards, she became addicted to using magic. Her disregard for the consequences of her actions eventually drove Tara away and Buffy's sister Dawn to the hospital. With Tara's departure, Willow was forced to face her problem and stopped using magic. When Tara was murdered by Warren Mears, however, a grief-stricken Willow unleashed the dark energies once more, and her vengeance reached a climax when Willow used magic to skin Mears alive. Willow absorbed volumes of magic as she pursued the other members of the Trio, Mears' accomplices, turning against her friends in the process. Her attempt to raise an apocalypse was ended by Xander who refused to leave her out of love, regardless of what she had done or was doing. This eventually caused Willow to break down over the horrible things she had done (partially because she had absorbed power from Giles that put her back in touch with her true emotions and feelings) and start to come to terms with Tara's death.
Willow retreated to England with Buffy's Watcher Rupert Giles, but was forced to deal with her magical nature and her place in the universe. In an important crossover, she battled Jasmine, the then villain on Angel and restored Angel's soul. She returned from Los Angeles with Faith, a reformed Slayer. Willow slowly regained control of her powers and entered a new relationship with potential Slayer Kennedy. In the series finale, "Chosen", Willow was able to use her powers to change the rules for the Slayer line.
Buffy: "In every generation, one slayer is born... because a bunch of men who died thousands of years ago made up that rule. They were powerful men. This woman (points to Willow) is more powerful than all of them combined. So I say we change the rule. I say my power... should be our power."
Following "Chosen", the fifth season of Angel continued the "Buffyverse," mentioning Willow spending some time with Kennedy in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and traveling to an unreachable plane of existence.
[edit] Powers and abilities
In Season One Willow's major "powers" were her intelligence and computer skills, as well as marked snarkiness. She aids Giles as he researches information to aid Buffy in overcoming various challenges. She also aids in the preparation of magical materials, making her first potion to detect a witch in the episode "Witch", but did not seriously begin practicing magic until the death of Jenny Calendar, one of her teachers. She was asked to take over teaching the class because of her high intelligence and came upon a spell to curse a vampire with a soul. Her initial interest in Wicca lies more in the spell-casting portion rather than the faith itself; she sees magic as a way of hacking the universe, and an extension of her computer skills. This is probably because of her relationship with Calendar, who was connected to an online pagan network.
Willow's first major spell involved re-cursing Angel with a soul in the season two finale, a feat she repeated in Angel's season 4 episode "Orpheus". She learns to levitate a pencil early in Season Three and her powers continue to develop until, at the end of Season Four, she is casting powerful spells independently and with the help of Tara Maclay. Season Five finds her surpassing Tara, a more experienced witch, in skill and being able to draw enough power to fend off a god, Glory (with little effort). In Season Six, she demonstrates the ability to bring Buffy back to life-again, leaving her drained but retained her magic in a few seconds. Her friend Amy introduces her to a warlock, Rack, who gives her the ability to go longer and do more spells, which leads Willow further down the path to the dark side of magic, and eventually, after Tara dies, magic consumes her and she nearly destroys the world. It is at this time that Rack reveals that Willow is now the most powerful Wicca in the Western Hemisphere. In her "Dark Willow" persona, she is capable of imbuing herself with super strength rivalling Buffy's, flying, absorbing life from others, unleashing powerful energy blasts and exerting a high level of telepathic mind control. Season Seven sees her willingness to use magics greatly diminished after this event. She spends time at a coven in England with Giles where she develops a better understanding of magic, balance, etc. At this point she is so powerful her very feelings and thoughts can affect the world. Amy comments that other practitioners would have to work twice as hard to gain half of Willow's power. Despite this, Willow is largely prevented from accessing more than slight magic by The First, who attempts to corrupt her at each spell. Examples of the controlled usage of her power are her use of telekinesis to practice self restraint, conjuring force fields, extensive telepathic conversations, opening a portal and exterting hypnotic control. She also comments that she now absorbs power from the things around her, one time unwillingly draining some of Kennedy's life force. At the end of Season Seven, Willow casts a spell that imbues all potential slayers on Earth with Slayer powers (formerly reserved for only one girl in every generation), turning Willow's eyes and hair white in the process. Her girlfriend Kennedy remarked on it by calling her "a goddess".
[edit] Religion
Willow is portrayed on the show as "a Wicca". For example, in the Season Three episode "Doppelgängland", Anya tells her: "I heard you were a pretty powerful Wicca, so . . ." Willow replies: "You heard right, mister!" However, some critics have pointed out that the depiction of Wicca on the show is innacurate. In the book Seven Seasons of Buffy [1], author Christie Golden describes Willow as a "Hollywood witch" and points out that even the phrase "a Wicca" makes no sense, stating: "One who follows the faith of Wicca is a Wiccan."
Willow also refers to herself on a number of occasions as Jewish and appears to come from a religious family, noting in the Season Two episode "Passion" that she has to go to Xander's house just to watch "A Charlie Brown Christmas" every year, Xander again says it in season 5 episode, "[[The Replacement (Buffy Episode)[The Replacement]]"
[edit] Notable spells and incidents
In Season Two's "Halloween", a ghost costume charmed and sold by Ethan Rayne made Willow an immaterial spectre. The spell was soon broken and Willow returned to normal. In Season Four's "Something Blue", Willow cast a spell which granted her the ability to make anything she said come true. She lacked control over this ability and cancelled the spell. In Season Five's "Triangle" Willow accidentally released a troll from a crystal while trying to create a ball of sunshine to help Buffy slay vampires easily. Throughout Season Five Willow showed the ability to summon elements i.e fire and lightning. Willow also began to learn "Tactical Spells" in Season Five as a safeguard against the possible attack of Glory. In Season Six's last arc, Willow had developed the ability to drain magic from people and objects. As Dark Willow, she could fire dark bolts of energy at her foes and achieve flight.
At one point, Willow came near to destroying the world (although she did use a pre-rigged device). Near the end of the series, Buffy states that Willow alone is now more powerful than the Shadowmen, the group of ancient wizards who created the line of Vampire Slayers.
[edit] Romantic interests
- Xander Harris: Willow "dated" Xander when they were five, until he stole her Barbie. She continued a hopeless, unrequited crush on her lifelong friend into high school. Her moment of tenderness with Xander in the season two opener ended when Buffy popped up. The two began a brief affair in season three's "Homecoming" when they were each involved with someone else.
- "Malcolm Black"/Moloch: See "I, Robot... You, Jane".
- Daniel 'Oz' Osborne: Willow lost her virginity in this first long-term relationship, which ended when Oz cheated on her with a female werewolf. When he returned to Sunnydale months later hoping for a reconciliation, Willow had begun her relationship with Tara. But her feelings for him remained strong, and she told him, "I feel like some part of me will always be waiting for you."
- Herself: Willow's vampire alter ego expresses an attraction for her ("Doppelgängland") in the first hint of her eventual coming out.
- Tara Maclay: Willow's first lesbian relationship developed quickly and lasted about two years. Tara was portrayed as her true love. The relationship ended when Tara was shot and killed by Warren Mears
- Rupert Giles: When Willow saw him sing at the Espresso Pump, her reaction was to say "Now I remember why I used to have such a crush on him." There was a hint in the high school seasons, where you could see pictures of Giles in Willow's locker, but it never went anywhere.
- Amy Madison The two became good friends during Willow's junkie period, with possible overtones of an attraction. Their friendship ended abruptly, however, and Amy later sought retribution.
- Winifred "Fred" Burkle: When Willow visited Los Angeles to re-ensoul Angel ("Orpheus"), she mistakenly read Fred's excitement upon meeting her as attraction. Willow told her she was already seeing someone.
- Kennedy: Willow continued her recovery from Tara's death as she embarked on relationship with this potential slayer. When last mentioned, they were living together in South America.
[edit] Character type
Similar characters to Willow have begun appearing more frequently in teen dramas since Buffy, noteworthy examples include Thelma Bates in Hex and Trina Echolls in Veronica Mars.
[edit] Trivia
- Willow's dark turn in Season Six is explicitly compared to X-Men's "Dark Phoenix Saga", of which Joss Whedon is a huge fan. Both characters (Willow Rosenberg and Jean Grey) have red hair.
- Has a fear of frogs (Season 2 episode "What's My Line, Part One"), which she uses to help Buffy escape (Season 2 episode "Killed By Death").
- A new species of sea slug found on the West Coast, Alderia willowi, was named after this character in a tongue-in-cheek tribute due to Alderia willowi's rare reproductive dimorphism and Willow's own unique sexuality shifts during various seasons and episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
[edit] Appearances
Willow has appeared in:
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer
- Willow was a series regular for all seven seasons. Buffy and Willow were the only two characters that appeared in every episode of the show.
- Angel
- Willow made guest appearances in three episodes:
- "Disharmony" (April 17, 2001);
- "There's No Place Like Plrtz Glrb" (May 22, 2001)
- "Orpheus" (March 19, 2003)
[edit] Buffy The Vampire Slayer RPG
Willow and Tara were prominently showcased in the first published adventure for the Buffy the Vampire Slayer RPG, the The Dark Druid. The adventure features Fionn mac Cumhaill as a protagonist and ally. His battle with the druid Fer Doirich continues into the modern age and posits that the witches Willow and Tara are the reincarnations of his fosters Bodhmall and Liath respectively. [2]
[edit] References
- ^ Seven Seasons of Buffy edited by Glenn Yeffeth, BenBella Books, April 2003.
- ^ The Dark Druid by Brannan, Timothy S., Games Unplugged , July 2002, p.25. [1]
[edit] See also
| Preceded by: Glory |
Buffy Big Bad Season Six (as Dark Willow) |
Succeeded by: The First |
Categories: Angel (series) characters | Buffy the Vampire Slayer characters | Buffy the Vampire Slayer villains | Fictional people from California | Fictional hackers | Fictional Jews | Fictional LGBT characters | Fictional witches | Fictional characters with the power to warp reality | Fictional characters with telekinesis | Fictional characters with the power to teleport | Fictional telepaths | Fictional murderers | Fictional characters with the power to fly | Fictional characters with the power to manipulate light | Fictional characters with the power to manipulate plants | Big Bads
