D'Hoffryn

D'Hoffryn is a fictional character on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, played by Andy Umberger. He is a powerful entity high in the demonic hierarchy. He's the master of the vengeance demons, a cabal which includes humans who are "elevated" to demonic status and endowed with mystical powers enabling them to invoke revenge at the behest of mortals who believe they have been wronged. D'Hoffryn rules over a hell dimension known as Arashmahaar.

During the Dark Ages in Sweden a young woman named Aud comes to the attention of D'Hoffryn. Aud has recently used magic to turn her cheating boyfriend into a troll. (The character Aud is recognizable as Anya; her name is pronounced "odd"—this is a play on the fact that people are always telling Anya she is odd.) Impressed by her imaginative revenge, D'Hoffryn offers her a position as a vengeance demon, and she becomes "Anyanka," an avenger of scorned women. When Anyanka, under the guise of Anya, is robbed of her powers by Giles while attempting to exact vengeance on behalf of Cordelia, D'Hoffryn refuses to help her, leaving Anya stuck in a teenage body. In season four, D'Hoffryn attempts to convince Willow to become a vengeance demon after Oz leaves her and a spell she casts goes awry, resulting in a series of disasters for her friends which D'Hoffryn assumes she's done on purpose. She declines, but D'Hoffryn leaves his talisman (a tool to summon him) in case she changes her mind.

In season six, D'Hoffryn is a guest at the failed wedding of Anya and Xander.^[1] After Xander leaves Anya at the altar, D'Hoffryn reinstates her powers and the grief-stricken Anya once again becomes a vengeance demon.

Anya's second stint as a vengeance demon in season seven proves short-lived, and after wreaking a terrible vengeance on several college males using a spider-like Grimslaw demon, Buffy confronts and fights her. Willow uses the talisman D'Hoffryn had given her to summon him, asking him to help put a stop to the fighting. D'Hoffryn asks Anya what she wants, and she says that she wants to reverse the vengeance she had done. D'Hoffryn grants her wish, telling her that it'll require the sacrifice of a vengeance demon's body and soul. Believing she is about to die, Anya is resigned to her fate only to watch helplessly as D'Hoffryn summons her friend Halfrek - another vengeance demon whose specialty is granting the wishes of unhappy children - and incinerates her instead. D'Hoffryn then leaves, disgusted with Anya.

In Season 7 of the series D'Hoffryn sends at least two demons to kill Anya, but they are both thwarted.

Appearances

• Season 3: "Doppelgangland"
• Season 4: "Something Blue"
• Season 6: "Hell's Bells"
• Season 7: "Selfless"

Notes