Faith Lehane
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 Eliza Dushku as Faith |
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Faith Lehane (known in the TV series only as "Faith") is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, portrayed by Eliza Dushku. Born December 14, 1980 in Boston, Massachusetts,[2] Faith is mostly an antihero in the series' narratives.
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[edit] Character history
Faith is the third Slayer to appear on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, following Kendra Young. Faith became a Slayer when Kendra died at the hands of Drusilla in "Becoming, Part One", the penultimate episode of the second season. Most often described as "a rogue Slayer," she fulfilled the archetype of a nemesis in the classical sense, serving as the dark mirror to Buffy: similar but opposite to the hero. Series writer/producer Marti Noxon described Faith in terms of "the road not taken," a vision of what Buffy might have become if her life's circumstances were different. (However, this was arguably experimented in the episode The Wish, where an alternative version of Buffy was portrayed as a cold, reckless and jaded Slayer).
Faith was introduced in the third season of Buffy, and played a major role in that season's overarching plot. She returned for shorter story arcs on Buffy and Angel, and played a moderate role in the story arc of Buffy's seventh season. Like many characters in the Buffy gallery, she was one of substantial moral ambiguity, taking on roles ranging from violent sociopath to self-sacrificing champion.
Little is known about Faith's earlier life. Her dialect and early exposition suggests she grew up in the notably rough neighborhoods of South Boston. Her father is never mentioned, but Faith makes several references to her mother's alcoholism and possible allusions to childhood abuse (in the episode "Faith, Hope & Trick", she says "My dead mother hits harder than that!" whilst fighting a vampire). She also mentions her mother in a torture scene in the Angel episode "Five By Five".
Faith was traumatized by the murder of her Watcher at the hands of Kakistos, a powerful, ancient vampire. Early on, she harbored strong feelings of envy towards Buffy (cf. "Enemies") for having a loving relationship with her mother and friends, the same one she had always wanted. Jealousy later changed into self-hatred as Faith realized the power and accountability she has over her own life. By Season Seven, self-hatred had faded into self-acceptance, and she had learned to accept the consequences of her past actions.
Faith often suggests that killing gives her a drug-like euphoria, and even suffers from addictive withdrawal symptoms when she is not able to inflict pain. In the Angel episode "Sanctuary," quitting violence is equated with quitting alcohol (Faith: "I gotta be the only Slayer in history to be sponsored by a vampire"). She is seen smoking in Buffy's seventh season.
Faith also displays signs of promiscuity and an inability to share trust and intimacy with a man, describing herself as "a loser magnet" who attracts kleptomaniacs and "slackers." She was later responsible for Xander losing his virginity, and sleeps with Buffy's boyfriend Riley, after switching bodies with Buffy herself.
It is unknown when Faith was contacted and began training with her Watcher, though she appears to have been recruited as a teenager like Buffy (rather than as a child, which is considered ideal for a Slayer). The novel Go Ask Malice covers Faith's pre-Slayer life and her calling.
[edit] Sunnydale
When she first arrives in Sunnydale (in the episode "Faith, Hope & Trick"), Faith has been traumatized by helplessly watching the vampire Kakistos gruesomely murder her Watcher, explaining to Buffy that "they don't have a word for what he did to her." She has run away from trouble since childhood, but begins dealing with those issues after staking Kakistos. Faith feels like an outsider in Buffy's world even though she initially endears herself to Buffy's mother and friends.
Buffy, who is still recovering from the trauma of killing Angel, maintains emotional distance from Faith and withholds Angel's return from her (cf. "Revelations"). Although she resents Faith's carefree attitude toward violence, Buffy still trusts Faith enough to leave her to protect her mother at Christmas (cf. "Amends") and even shows hints of being attracted by Faith's wilder way of slaying (cf. "Bad Girls"). Faith perceives that Buffy does not trust her, further alienating the two.
Faith's isolation heightens when her new Watcher, Gwendolyn Post, abuses her trust to plot an evil scheme. Later, in the episode "Bad Girls," Faith accidentally kills Deputy Mayor Allan Finch and goes into denial. When it becomes clear that Buffy intends to reveal what happened, she tells Giles that Buffy had killed Finch, and Giles plays along to avoid pushing Faith too far. The Scooby Gang decides to help Faith, and Xander visits Faith's motel room to reason with her, but she nearly strangles him instead. Angel arrives in time and takes her to his mansion to try to reason with her.
Meanwhile, Buffy and Faith's new Watcher, Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, hears of Faith's crime and tries to arrest Faith with the help of a group of operatives from the Watchers' Council. Faith, however, attacks them inside their armored car and escapes (cf. "Consequences"). Isolated and bitter, she secretly turns to Mayor Richard Wilkins III, filling the void of Mayor Wilkins' "right hand man" left by the vampire Mr. Trick, whom Faith had recently dusted.
Faith and Mayor Wilkins develop an affectionate, emotional closeness, and she comes to see him as a father figure. While serving Mayor Wilkins undercover, she kills a smuggler and a bookseller demon. Later, Faith kidnaps Willow and wants to kill her (cf. "Choices"). She also kills a geology professor at Mayor Wilkins' order, without question. Her duplicity is exposed when she tries to rob Angel of his soul in the episode "Enemies." Despite her actions, Faith is somewhat surprised when Willow tells her that she is beyond help (cf. "Choices").
Faith then shoots Angel with a poisoned arrow, deliberately missing his heart to ensure protracted suffering and to distract Buffy's efforts before Mayor Wilkins' Ascension. The only antidote is the blood of a Slayer, and Buffy visits Faith's apartment to kill her, intending to give Faith to Angel for him to drain Faith's blood, but Buffy only manages to stab Faith in the gut with her own knife, a gift from Mayor Wilkins. Faith jumps from the apartment building roof onto a moving truck and escapes (cf. "Graduation Day, Part One"). However, their fight leaves Faith in a coma for several months. During that time, Buffy and Faith share a series of psychic dreams (cf. "Graduation Day, Part Two," "This Year's Girl").
[edit] After the coma
Faith regains consciousness in the fourth season episode "This Year's Girl." After learning what has happened while she was gone, she surprises Buffy and Willow on the UC Sunnydale campus. Faith is angry at Buffy's attempt to sacrifice her to Angel ("What did you think? I'd wake up and we'd go for tea? You tried to gut me blondie."), and even more so when she finds out that Buffy isn't even with him any more. She is also devastated further upon hearing about the death of Mayor Wilkins. After a brief fight, Faith escapes from the approaching police and later attacks Joyce Summers, Buffy's mother, at her house. As Buffy is about to win the ensuing battle, Faith uses a magical device, a gift from Mayor Wilkins, to swap bodies with Buffy. Buffy, in Faith's body, is kidnapped by the Watchers' Council Special Ops team to be taken to England, while Faith (as Buffy) plans to flee the country.
In the following episode ("Who Are You"), Tara Maclay realizes something is wrong and tells Willow. In the meantime, Faith flirts with Spike, and sleeps with Riley Finn, Buffy's boyfriend. She is torn between her desire to flee and her sense of duty to rescue a group of churchgoers taken hostage by vampires. When she chooses to save the hostages, Faith also encounters Buffy (who arrives on the scene with the same goal). During their confrontation, she savagely beats her own body, expressing extensive self-hatred. With Tara's help, Buffy manages to undo the body switch, and Faith flees Sunnydale by hopping a freight train.
Faith's story continues in the first season of Angel. In Los Angeles, she rampages through the underworld, stealing and squatting in her victims' apartments. Faith is approached by Wolfram & Hart, who have learned that a "rogue Slayer" was in town, and hire her to kill Angel. She shows Angel her "evil" side by kidnapping Wesley and brutally torturing him. In a subsequent fight with Angel, (in which Faith had the upper hand the majority of the time due to Angel's refusal to fight her properly) Faith insists that he kill her because she's "bad." Angel repeatedly refuses, and Faith eventually breaks down crying, begging Angel to kill her until she can't fight anymore.
Angel begins the task of saving Faith's soul, forgiving her and working to break down her emotional walls. Just as Faith begins to feel remorse for her crimes, Buffy arrives, looking for revenge. In the meantime, the Watchers' Council also shows up, intending to kill Faith. Faith decides to surrender to the police and face the consequences for her actions, eventually being sentenced in a women's prison, where Angel is shown occasionally visiting her. Faith, ironically, finds some level of stability in her prison life, noting that at least she has three meals a day and an occasional movie. Although capable of escaping at any time, the penitent Faith chooses to cooperate with the terms of her confinement.
In the fourth season of Angel, Faith is attacked by a Bringer in prison; although Buffy and the Scooby Gang in Sunnydale are aware of the threat posed by the Bringers, they fail to warn Faith of the danger. Soon after, she is recruited by Wesley to help find Angelus and assist in restoring his soul yet again. Without hesitation, Faith breaks out of prison. Wesley later tells her that "it had to be you" because of her determination to save Angel without killing him. She battles Angelus and just before he defeats her, she injects a powerful drug, known as Orpheus that incapacitates both of them. While Willow works on a spell to restore Angel's soul, Faith and Angel go on a psychic mind walk. The drug almost kills Faith, but during the mental link with Angel and Angelus, she is persuaded by Angel not to give up, because for them, the act of atonement never ends.
After Angel's re-ensoulment, Faith leaves with Willow to return to Sunnydale to help Buffy and her allies battle the First Evil. She initially follows Buffy's command even though she has some doubts about Buffy's decision-making skill. Buffy is less than enthusiastic about Faith's return, but recognizes that reinforcements are desperately needed, and Faith shows dedication to being "one of the good guys." However, when Buffy loses the confidence of the group and is kicked out of the house, the Potentials turn to Faith for leadership. She reluctantly agrees to lead, but her first attack leads the Potential Slayers into a trap. Faith is badly wounded but is saved by Buffy and the surviving Potentials. When the Potentials complain about Faith's decision, Buffy defends her, and she and Buffy finally make peace, noting that the friction in their relationship is perhaps due to the fact that under normal circumstances, two Slayers are never supposed to live at the same time.
Faith plays a pivotal role in the final battle with the First Evil's army, "holding the line" after Buffy is stabbed by one of the Turok-Han.
[edit] The future
Faith is set to appear[citation needed] in the second arc of the upcoming and canonical Buffy season eight.
[edit] Powers and abilities
[edit] Normal powers
Faith is a Slayer, and thus has the usual powers of such, including superhuman strength, healing factor, speed, durability, and reflexes.
[edit] Other powers
Although she never explicitly displayed the power of prophetic dreams as displayed by Buffy on many occasions, Faith does appear to have some level of supernatural extent to her subconscious. In the third season finale "Graduation Day, Part Two," Buffy experiences a dream in which Faith appears to her, making a cryptic reference to the arrival of Dawn and Buffy's impending death in the finale of Season Five, "The Gift," as well as making several other cryptic references relevant to both Buffy and herself.
Later, in the episodes "This Year's Girl" and "Who Are You," we witness several portions of Faith's dreams in which she converses with Mayor Wilkins and overcomes a dream version of Buffy to awaken from her coma.
[edit] Relationships
[edit] Romantic and sexual
Before initially coming to Sunnydale, Faith experiences a number of failed relationships with "losers" who have destroyed her confidence in men: "Ronnie, deadbeat. Steve, klepto. Kenny, drummer. Eventually I just had to face up to my destiny as a loser magnet. Now it is strictly get some, get gone. You can't trust guys." Although she is sexually aggressive, Faith avoids emotional intimacy (as evident with all three sexual encounters listed below).
- Xander Harris — Faith shares a one-night stand with Xander in the episode "The Zeppo," but it seems this encounter is purely physical on Faith's part, and she seeks no further intimacy. Xander later tries to use their "connection" to get through to Faith when her behavior becomes excessively destructive, to no avail.
- Riley Finn — During her brief time in Buffy's body, Faith seduces Riley. While her behavior is initially overly provocative, she is somewhat moved that Riley wants to make love to her/Buffy rather than just have sex. However, the morning after their encounter, Faith (still in Buffy's body) is unsure how to react to the intimacy shown her, and quickly leaves in tears.
- Principal Robin Wood — Upon arriving in Sunnydale to help in the war against the First Evil, sparks quickly begin to fly between Faith and Robin, a demon slayer whose mother had been the Slayer in the 1970s. After a brief course of flirting, the pair share a one-night stand. Although Faith initially tries to walk away, Robin challenges her to give him the chance to "surprise" her. As the series concludes, Faith and Robin (both having survived the apocalyptic battle) share a clear bond.
[edit] Parental figures
Romantic and sexual liaisons aside, Faith's most profound relationships were formed with paternal or maternal figures who she quickly latched onto. The most obvious example of this was Mayor Richard Wilkins III, although prior to her alliance with him, Faith also briefly found herself in a similar situation with her Watchers.
- Mayor Richard Wilkins III — Through their alliance, Faith finds the stable, paternal figure she craves, which swiftly changes her flirtation with evil to a desire to do anything to make Mayor Wilkins proud of her. She is loyal to him before her coma, helping him prepare for his Ascension. When she wakes from her coma and discovers that Buffy has destroyed him, Faith goes on a rampage. Before his death, Mayor Wilkins records a heartfelt speech to leave for Faith, and he makes provisions for her to come into possession of a magical device upon his death if she should ever wake up. Faith later uses the device to switch bodies with Buffy, but the process is subsequently reversed when Willow and Tara realise what has happened. In the final season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the First Evil manifests itself to Faith in Mayor Wilkins' form, and she reveals that she still feels fondness for him, saying that he used to be "like a Dad" to her, regardless of the fact that he was evil.
- Her first Watcher — It is implied that Faith had some fondness for her first Watcher, who was murdered at the hands of the ancient vampire known as Kakistos.
- Gwendolyn Post — Faith is quick to latch onto the sinister Gwendolyn Post, who briefly poses as her new Watcher. A misled Faith gives her loyalty to Post, who nurtures Faith's feelings of isolation from the others. When she witnesses Post's confrontation with Buffy and Angel, Faith sides with her new mentor, and is shaken to learn the truth about Post's evil plan. This betrayal of her hesitant trust re-enforces her belief that she can never rely upon anyone else.
[edit] Angel and Spike
Faith has a particular connection with both Angel and Spike during her tenure on both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel; all three characters share dangerous, dark sides that have previously consumed them, allowing them to closely relate to each others' intertwining paths to redemption.
- Angel — Allied with Mayor Wilkins, Faith initially tries to remove Angel's soul so that he would revert back to Angelus; however, Angel and Buffy unite against her. At this point, it is clear Faith harbors a primal, sexual attraction toward Angel, although this attraction was never really re-examined after she awoke from her coma. After awakening from her coma and fleeing Sunnydale, Faith arrives in Los Angeles where, despite her initial attempts to kill Angel, she ultimately seeks protection and help from him, seeing him as somewhat of a kindred spirit. Angel helps her, protecting her when Buffy seeks revenge for Faith's actions. Faith and Angel's bond, strengthened by their mutual struggle for redemption, continues throughout her incarceration as Angel visits her in prison. When Faith learns that Angelus has been released, she breaks out of prison without hesitation to help capture and re-ensoul her friend, stating that Angel is the only person in her life who never gave up on her. During a brief session in Angelus' mind, Faith witnesses a direct confrontation between Angel and Angelus, and later battles Angel's son Connor to stop him staking Angelus before he can be re-ensouled.
- Spike — While temporarily inhabiting Buffy's body, Faith mercilessly flirts with and rejects Spike. When she later returns to Sunnydale to help the Scoobies fight against the First Evil, they revisit that conversation, with Spike remembering every word ("It's not the kind of thing a man forgets") and converse easily, relating to each other on a personal level. They discuss how they have both been "dangerous" in the past, and acknowledge each other's efforts toward redemption. This connection does not go unnoticed by Buffy, who is more than a little jealous of the pair's chemistry and fledgling friendship. Faith's complicity in the mutiny against Buffy leads her and Spike to fight before he leaves the Summers' home, although they ultimately become allies once more in the final battle against the First.
[edit] Buffy Summers
The bond that Faith shares with her fellow Slayer is complex. They have unique insight into each other's personality and the burdens that they share, but they disagree about what it means to be a Slayer. Buffy is alienated by Faith's enthusiasm for violence and lack of responsibility, and Faith does not understand why Buffy compartmentalizes her destiny as if it were a job.
Additionally, Faith is jealous of the life Buffy leads, surrounded by friends and family. Buffy, never one for rules herself, is somewhat drawn to Faith's rebellious nature (cf. "Bad Girls"), but is horrified when Faith descends into reckless abandon and accidentally kills a man. After they become enemies, Faith and Buffy still share a fundamental bond; they also share a series of dreams while Faith is in a coma.
Faith's jealousy of Buffy's life culminates when she steals Buffy's body. After the events of the "body swap," Buffy believes Faith incapable of redemption and wants to kill her, but must ultimately settle for Faith's voluntary incarceration. When Faith returns to Sunnydale to help fight the First Evil, Buffy again accepts her as an ally. Faith tries to follow Buffy's lead, and is hesitant to become the leader after the mutiny against Buffy. However, Buffy surprises Faith by encouraging her to embrace the leadership role.
After Buffy and the gang are reconciled, Buffy and Faith discuss their contentious history, and Faith concludes that the reason they have never gotten along is because two Slayers were never meant to exist at the same time.
[edit] Go Ask Malice
Go Ask Malice is an original novel written by Robert Joseph Levy, and released in 2006. The novel is made up of Faith's diary entries from December 1997 until June 1998. Although this book is not considered to be part of Buffy canon, it fleshes out much of Faith's past.
For example, it reveals:
- That Faith was born on December 14, 1980, making her roughly one month older than Buffy despite her relative immaturity
- How Faith got her tattoo
- Why she uses the phrase "five by five"
- That her first Watcher was named Diana Dormer
- Who the deadbeat, the kleptomaniac, and the drummer she dated were
[edit] Story
Faith was brought up in South Boston. She saw her father but only at a young age. Faith was looked after by her mother, who was an alcoholic, and her grandfather. As a child, she was told by her mother that her father had died, when in fact, he had gone to prison.
Faith's Watcher was Diana Dormer, a professor of folklore and mythology at Harvard University. Dormer informed Faith that there was a second Slayer in Sunnydale, California. After the vampire Kakistos kills Dormer, Faith runs away; unable to afford a ticket to Sunnydale, she goes to New York instead. She must have spent the summer running from place to place with the ultimate goal of arriving in Sunnydale, which she does in the Buffy episode "Faith, Hope & Trick."
[edit] Appearances
Faith has appeared in:
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Faith appeared as a guest in 20 episodes:
- Season 3 (1998, 1999) — "Faith, Hope & Trick"; "Beauty and the Beasts"; "Homecoming"; "Revelations"; "Amends"; "The Zeppo"; "Bad Girls"; "Consequences"; "Doppelgängland"; "Choices"; "Enemies"; "Graduation Day, Part One" and "Part Two"
- Season 4 (1999, 2000) — "This Year's Girl"; "Who Are You"
- Season 7 (2002, 2003) — "Dirty Girls"; "Empty Places"; "Touched"; "End of Days"; "Chosen"
- Angel: Faith appeared as a guest in 6 episodes:
- Books & comics: Faith has appeared in numerous extensions of the Buffyverse. Her biggest appearances include: The Book of Fours, Wisdom of War, Haunted, Note from the Underground, Endangered Species, and the novel Go Ask Malice: A Slayer's Diary.
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds: Faith appears in this GameCube/PlayStation 2/Xbox video game as a playable character.
[edit] Quotes
- Willow describes Faith to Tara: A psychopathic superbitch... (If you find her) run, flee, maybe skedaddle... As far as fighting, I'd be lucky to bruise her fist with my face... She's like this cleavagy slut-bomb walking around 'Ooh, check me out, I'm wicked-cool, I'm five-by-five'.
- Andrew describes Faith to Potential Slayers: Faith. Her name alone invokes awe. Faith. A set of principles or beliefs on which you are willing to devote your life. The Dark Slayer. A lethal combination of beauty, power, and death. For years and years or - to be more accurate - months, Faith fought on the side of good, terrorizing the evil community. But like so many tragic heroes, Faith was seduced by the lure of the dark side. She wrapped evil around her like a large, evil Mexican serape. She became a cold-blooded killer. Nobody was immune to her trail of destruction. Not friends, not family... Not even the most pacifist and logical of races.
[edit] Trivia
- In the Buffy episodes "This Year's Girl" and "Who Are You," Faith swapped bodies with Buffy. During this time she was portrayed by Sarah Michelle Gellar.
- Joss Whedon announced in January 2005 that Faith's surname was "Lehane," and this would be used in all future products, starting with Eden Studios' Buffy the Vampire Slayer role-playing game. The name appears in Eden's books and is considered to be canonical. Whedon explained at the time:
- There was this role playing game or something. They said she hadda have a last name for her so I chose Lehane 'cause I wanted something southie, just as you thought. — Joss Whedon at whedonesque.com
- Faith largely popularized the term "five by five" to mean everything is well. In voice procedure — the technique used to facilitate spoken communication over two-way radios — the term refers to strength and clarity of a signal on a scale of 1 to 5. "Five by five" is synonymous with "loud and clear" in both outward bound signals and inward bound signals.
- The first time they met, Faith conveniently borrowed a stake from Buffy to kill a vampire. This became a running gag throughout the show.
- Faith's signature knife, given to her by Mayor Wilkins, is a Gil Hibben 1999 Jackal — the same knife used by Praetor Shinzon in Star Trek: Nemesis. [1]
- Faith's first appearance also marks Angel's return from Hell.
- Faith was the last known Slayer in the series to inherit her Slayer power via the traditional Slayer line.
- Eliza Dushku has no tattoo on her right arm. The one sported by Faith is just painted.
[edit] References
- ^ "Who Are You", Buffy the Vampire Slayer
- ^ Faith's birthdate is given in Angel Casefiles Vol 1, and taken from a police bulletin in the episode "Sanctuary". The shooting script for "Faith, Hope & Trick" gives her age as "18ish".
