Watcher (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
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In the fictional Buffyverse established by the television series Buffy and Angel, a Watcher is a member of a secret organization, the Watchers' Council, which seeks to prepare the Slayer to fight demonic forces.
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[edit] Description
Watchers are devoted to tracking and combatting malevolent supernatural entities (and particularly vampires), primarily by locating individuals with the talents required to fight such beings and win. More specifically, Watchers are assigned to Slayers, girls that are part of a succession of mystically powered individuals who are destined to face said foes. Upon a Slayer's demise, her powers are transferred unto a new girl, who is then assigned a Watcher herself. The Watchers' Council trains new Watchers in a private school of some kind.
Notable Watchers include Rupert Giles and Wesley Wyndam-Pryce. Giles was Buffy's official Watcher in the beginning of the series and, after being fired by the Council for what was considered an emotional overattachment to the Slayer, became her unofficial Watcher for most of the story's remainder. After Giles' firing, Wyndam-Pryce became Buffy and Faith's Watcher for a short period of time, eventually moving on to assist the vampire Angel. Gwendolyn Post was an ex-watcher who was fired from the Council for misuse of dark power.
[edit] Powers and Abilities
A standard Watcher has at least some proficiency in the use of magic. They are students of demonology and as such have a wide knowledge of various incarnations of evil, but their expertise is usually the vampire.
Watchers are typically well versed in hand-to-hand combat techniques, though they generally confine themselves to training Slayers or supporting them in battle, as their relative strength limits their effectiveness in directly engaging vampires.
[edit] Shadow Men
In ancient times, a group known as the Shadow Men used magic to infuse a captive girl with the essence of a demon, thereby creating the First Slayer, whom they use to fight demonic forces. The descendants of the Shadow Men go on to form the Watchers' Council.[1]
In 2003, Slayer Buffy Anne Summers uses a strange mystical device to meet with the Shadow Men about the threat she faces from the First Evil. She learns how the Slayers were created and is shown a vision which reveals the First's massive army of Turok-Han Vampires in the Hellmouth.[2]
The Shadow Men first appeared in Fray issue #3, and were later shown onscreen in the episode "Get It Done".
[edit] Watchers' Council
| Watchers' Council | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| First appearance | Welcome to the Hellmouth |
| Last appearance | Never Leave Me |
| Created by | Joss Whedon |
| Statistics | |
| Name | Watchers' Council |
| Purpose | Find, train, and support The Vampire Slayer |
| Membership | Key members |
The Watchers' Council of Britain is an organization dedicated to finding, training, and supervising Slayers in the fictional Buffyverse.
The Council eventually bases its headquarters in London, England. It tries to locate potential Slayers and then send Watchers to inform and train them. It is not always successful in doing so, and therefore some Slayers are fully trained when they are called, while others know nothing of the heritage or purpose of their power. Each potential Slayer is assigned her own Watcher - a Council employee who is responsible for training the Slayer in combat techniques as well as researching demons, vampires, and magicks. Watchers also maintain diaries chronicling the lives of the Slayers under their charge.
In late 2002, the Council learns that the The First is systematically eliminating potential Slayers around the world in an effort to end the Slayer line. Unfortunately, before this information can be acted on, the Council headquarters is destroyed by agents of The First, specifically Caleb - "At long last. All this time. All the work I've done for you... Blowing up the Council". The Council leadership is killed, and the Council is not able to offer assistance in the struggle against The First.[3]
In the aftermath of the battle with the army of The First and the destruction of the Sunnydale Hellmouth, the Watchers' Council begins the process of rebuilding. The work to be done is considerable, especially in light of the creation of hundreds of active Slayers around the world.[4] The structure of this new Council is unknown, but it appears that Rupert Giles is its new head and is training Andrew Wells as a Watcher.[5] Only three members of the Watchers' Council have been shown to have survived the First's attacks, Rupert Giles, an acquaintance to him named Robson who survived a Bringer attack, in addition to Roger Wyndham-Pryce. His son, Wesley, and Rutherford Sirk were ex-members of the Council and thus not targeted by the First Evil.
In the canonical comic Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Giles informs Faith that he is, for all intents and purposes, the Watcher's Council. Andrew, Xander Harris, and Robin Wood are functioning as Watchers, assisting in the training and supervision of the new Slayers in separate squads around the world (Rome, Scotland, and Cleveland respectively). Their duties have expanded to monitoring Slayers as well; Giles offers Faith Lehane a new identity in exchange for her undertaking the mission to kill Genevieve Savidge, a sociopathic slayer. And, now they both have partnered up to find, council and possibly defeat rogue slayers similar to Genevieve and Faith herself.
According to the comic Fray, a Slayer in the 21st century banishes all demons and magicks from the world. When evil returns, a new Slayer - Melaka Fray - is called. The Watchers' Council in this era apparently retains the resources to locate Slayers. Melaka Fray is approached by her assigned Watcher, but rather than assist or train her, he immolates himself in front of her.[6] Melaka is instead trained by a demon who says that the remaining Council consists of fanatics and fools.[7]
[edit] Methods
The Watchers' Council has been known to use ethically questionable methods to accomplish its goals. The Council employs a trio of operatives known as the Special Operations Team.[8] This team is responsible for some of the more unsavory aspects of the Council's work, such as interrogations, smuggling, and, if necessary, assassinations. When Faith Lehane stakes and kills a human, the Special Ops Team was dispatched to retrieve the rogue Slayer, circumventing local and international authorities.[9]
The Council is also known for placing its principles and perceived goals ahead of the well-being of the Slayer. A test known as the Cruciamentum involves suppressing the Slayer's natural abilities with a drug and pitting her against a particularly dangerous vampire on the Slayer's eighteenth birthday. When one particular Watcher, Rupert Giles, defies the rules of the test and interferes in the Cruciamentum of his Slayer - Buffy Summers - he is dismissed from his position immediately.[10]
In 2001, representatives of the Council visit Sunnydale, California to deliver vital information on the seemingly unstoppable Glory to the Slayer, Buffy Summers. However, the Council refuses to turn over the information until an extensive review of Buffy's abilities is completed. This assessment includes a review of Buffy's combat skills, as well as interviews with many of her closest friends. Eventually, the Slayer turns the tables on the Watchers, declaring that they need her to validate their existence more than she needs their help. She defends the frequent assistance of her friends (Slayers typically operate alone) and demands that Rupert Giles be reinstated as her Watcher, with retroactive pay to the time of his dismissal. The Council agrees to this, changing the nature of the Council/Slayer relationship until the Council's destruction two years later.[11]
[edit] Guardians
The Guardians are an organization of long-lived women who developed parallel to the Shadow Men and Watchers. They forge a weapon, the Scythe, for the Slayer to use. They are apparently mistrustful of the Shadow Men and Watchers who followed, as they keep this weapon, along with their very existence, a secret. They allow the Watchers to observe and manage the Slayer for centuries, but all the while the Guardians are watching the Watchers. They remain in hiding until Buffy Summers discovers the Scythe and tracks its origin to an Egyptian-style tomb, where the last Guardian waits. Immediately after explaining herself to Buffy, the Guardian is killed by Caleb, putting an end to the organization.[1]
[edit] List of Watchers
Note: Some Slayers have had more than one Watcher in the course of their careers.
| Watcher | Slayer(s) | First Appearance (as a Watcher) |
|---|---|---|
| Giles, Rupert | Buffy Summers Faith Lehane |
"Welcome to the Hellmouth" |
| Wyndam-Pryce, Wesley | Faith Lehane Buffy Summers |
"Bad Girls" |
| Merrick | Buffy Summers | Buffy the Vampire Slayer (non-canon), "Becoming, Part One" |
| Zabuto, Roger "Sam" | Kendra Young | Mentioned in "What's My Line, Part One" |
| Crowley, Bernard | Nikki Wood | Mentioned in "First Date" |
| Travers, Quentin | Unknown | "Helpless" |
| Post, Gwendolyn | Faith Lehane* | "Revelations" |
| Sirk, Rutherford | Unknown | "Home" |
| Wyndam-Pryce, Roger | Unknown | Mentioned in "Lineage" |
| Wells, Andrew | Many | "Damage" |
* Watcher fraudulently "assigned" self to Slayer after being expelled from Council.
The following have featured with no significant details known about them. Not all of these are true Watchers, some of them are merely operatives on payroll.
- Blair
- Hobson
- Lydia—Wrote a Thesis on William the Bloody
- Nigel
- Phillip
- Robson
- Faith's first Watcher
- Giles' father
- Giles' paternal grandmother (named Edna in a Tales of the Vampires comic by Joss Whedon)
- Collins, Weatherby and Smith—The Council Special Ops Team
- Faith's nurse
- Wesley's thugs
- The (non-canon) novels and comics, specially those focusing on previous Slayers, show or mention other Watchers including: Michaela Tomassi (The Gatekeeper trilogy), Archibald Lassiter (Giles), Harold and John Travers ( Pretty Maids All in a Row), Yanna Narvik (watched over the Slayer, Sophie Carstensen in Pretty Maids All in a Row), Marie-Christine Fontaine ( watched Slayer, Eleanor Boudreau in Pretty Maids All in a Row), Diana Dormer (the name given to Faith's first Watcher in Go Ask Malice).
[edit] References
- ^ a b "End of Days". Buffy the Vampire Slayer. 2003-05-13. No. 21, season 7.
- ^ "Get It Done". Buffy the Vampire Slayer. 2003-02-18. No. 15, season 7.
- ^ "Never Leave Me". Buffy the Vampire Slayer. 2002-11-26. No. 9, season 7.
- ^ "Chosen". Buffy the Vampire Slayer. 2003-05-20. No. 22, season 7.
- ^ "Damage". Angel. 2004-01-28. No. 11, season 57.
- ^ Whedon, Joss (w), Moline, Karl (p), Owens, Andy (i). "Big City Girl" Fray vol. 1, #1 (2001) Dark Horse Comics
- ^ Whedon, Joss (w), Moline, Karl (p), Owens, Andy (i). "Ready, Steady..." Fray vol. 1, #3 (2001) Dark Horse Comics
- ^ "Who Are You". Buffy the Vampire Slayer. 2000-02-29. No. 16, season 4.
- ^ "Sanctuary". Angel. 2000-05-02. No. 19, season 1.
- ^ "Helpless". Buffy the Vampire Slayer. 1999-01-19. No. 12, season 3.
- ^ "Checkpoint". Buffy the Vampire Slayer. 2001-01-21. No. 12, season 5.
[edit] See also
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