Whistler (Buffyverse)
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 Max Perlich as Whistler |
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Whistler was a demon in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Despite his origins, he describes his duty as maintaining the balance between good and evil. "Whistler" is actually an alias, as his real name can only be pronounced by dolphins, which would mean it consists of a series of whistles and screeches. He appeared in the last two episodes in season two, and was portrayed by Max Perlich.
Whistler first appears in a flashback in the episode "Becoming, Part One" where he approaches a dirty and destitute Angel on the streets of New York City. At first, he appears to be a human who dresses like a "bottom-ranked mafioso", but he reveals himself to actually be a demon. He tells Angel about his duty to maintain a balance between good and evil, and that Angel is destined to be a force of good. He then takes Angel across the country to L.A. where he shows the vampire with a soul the young slayer Buffy Summers. Falling in love with the fledgling vampire Slayer while he watches her, Angel decides to help her in her duty as a Slayer.
Whistler does not interfere again until he learns that Angel, now without a soul, plans to awaken the demon Acathla. He confronts Buffy in Giles' apartment and tells her that Angel was never supposed to lose his soul. In fact, it had been his destiny to stop Acathla, not bring him forth. Buffy is less than impressed with his sarcastic attitude, and accuses him of having nothing useful to tell her. What he does tell her--not in so many words, mind you--is that she will have to kill Angel to stop Acathla. In the end, she is forced to do just that.
[edit] Quotes
Whistler's narration that concludes the episode "Becoming, Part One":
"Bottom line is even if you see 'em coming, you're not ready for the big moments. No one asks for their life to change, not really. But it does. So what, are we helpless? Puppets? No. The big moments are gonna come, can't help that. It's what you do afterwards that counts. That's when you find out who you are.
"You'll see what I mean."
[edit] Trivia
Whistler was originally planned to serve as a sidekick for Angel on the Buffy spinoff, Angel, but instead the decision was made to replace Whistler with Doyle, a similar character. Perlich was unavailable at the time.
