Sunday, February 21, 2010

Top 10 Reasons Why Buffy's a Super Duper Hero

There's a list that came out a few days ago citing the Top 10 Whedon Heroes. This list was surprisingly void of many names that come to mind when I think of the word "hero"in the Whedonverse. An argument can be made for Anya, Illyria, Jayne and, dare I say, Andrew to be considered heroes, but to put those names above characters like Doyle, Cordelia, Faith, Xander, Gunn, Willow and, I can't believe I'm typing this, Buffy?

Buffy's pretty much the hero above all the heroes in the verse. And I'm not just talking about hero because of super powers, it's really Buffy's heart that makes her the Top Dog in the Whedonverse. Everyone's got there own opinion, and we've got ours too, so we've decided to give you the Top Ten Reasons why Buffy is super duper Whedon hero above all the rest!

10. She graduated high school even though she got about three hours of sleep a night because she was fighting evil doers. Most of us barely graduated on eight hours!

9. She made sure everyone else graduated high school, too, instead of getting eaten by a giant snake.

8. She was determined that her friends would have a good prom night, even though she wouldn't.

7. She wouldn't sacrifice Ben, a human, even though he was Glory. Yes, Ben is Glory and Glory is Ben.

6. She fought against the Watcher's Council, a group that's been around for a lifetime, because she knew what was right and important.

5. She gave those she cared about the benefit of the doubt even when it wasn't a popular decision because she saw the potential and didn't believe in giving up on them (see: Angel in Season 2/3, Faith in Season 3, Willow in Season 6/7, Spike in Season 7).

4. She was 16 and didn't wanna die, but she faced The Master anyway.

3. She killed the man she loved to save the world.

2. She sacrificed herself to save her sister and the world.

1. She inspired almost every single character in Sunnydale and L.A. to be who they would eventually become. Some of those people include Willow, Angel, Xander, Cordelia, Wesley, Spike, Oz, Anne/Chanterelle/Lilly, Riley, every potential and Robin Wood.

7 comments:

heroine_tv said...

I could not agree more. Buffy is my hero. While implied in #1 of your list, I would add the fact that she chose to share her power, at the end of the series, and empowered thousands of girls around the world. Of course, if we also took into account the comics, this choice is a bit more controversial. But when the potentials became slayers in "Chosen," I cried. Such a beautiful thing to do. Superman never shared his superpowers--the greedy jerk. ;P

monty said...

Excellent post Michelle. I agree with everything you said. Buffy is awesome. To this day I still have mini Buffy marathons of the DVD sets which I owned.

Nat said...

Great post, Buffy is an awesome hero, how she didn't make it onto that list is beyond me. Though honestly apart from the inclusion of Angel and Mal, it could be a list of unsung heroes.
Ilyria and Andrew are my biggest quibbles on that list, not sure either qualify as hero. Wes is a great number one though.

mbatz said...

That list is ridiculous. That is all.

Aerliss said...

That is a really odd list. I agree with Nat that it could be a list of unsung heroes... except yeah, Spike, River, Angel, Wash (Wash is so a sung hero, he HAS a song written about him! Er... as does Jayne 'k never mind me), Giles, Mal... all of them very much appreciated heroes... even if some have a darker side *cough*Rupert*cough*

As much as I'm not a fan of the character, I'll readily admit she is THE hero. No one else comes close to her level of self sacrifice. Sure, she might whine about her duties and even try to run away from them at times, but in the end she does the right thing she makes the hard choice ('cept with Ben). She gives and gives and comes to accept that she may never even get anything in return (in this life).

skyroom80 said...

I've read many scathing remarks about this list on a number of forums. I guess I may be the only Whedonverse fan to absolutely love that Wes got the number one spot.

I think the editor(s) were addressing the many other heroes aside from Buffy in the list. They should have made that clear.

But, Wes? Of a the characters in the Buffyverse, I rate him #1. Bis growth as a character was incredibly subtle. I remember thinking (I think after he and Lilah were together) that I had slowly fallen in love with Wes.

And every time I watch "Not Fade Away" I tell myself I will NOT cry but ever time, I do. Every time.

Slatterns In Wonderland said...

Yeah, I agree. Maybe they should have titled that list the Top 10 Whedon Heroes (sans Buffy). And not even a runner-up from Dr. Horrible in either list (villains/heroes).