The Unchosen Heroes

[AutumnT]

Some of the discussion today got me to thinking about heroes on the show. How even though Buffy is the chosen one her friends are not and yet they have all had both large and small moments of heroism. Buffy isn't the only one who saved the world a lot. So, I was wondering what others found to be some of the most heroic moments for the unchosen ones.

My choice for Willow is not an obvious one and takes place in the episode "Choices" where she of the big brain and boundless opportunity decides to stay in Sunnydale with her friend to fight the good fight rather than taking the easier option to get the hell out of dodge and revel in her academic brilliance. It's a moment when Willow takes a heroic step when an easier option is there.

For Tara the choice is more obvious. In "Tough Love" where despite her fear she juts out her jaw with determination and refuses to tell Glory what she wants to know suffering the horrible consequences herself before betraying someone.

I need to think some more about the other Scoobies before I decide my favorite heroic moments for them. Anyone else?

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Autumn

I'm just taking stuff and not paying for it. In what twisted dictionary is that stealing?

[Wiccagrrl]

Well, I agree with your choices for Willow and Tara, so here are a couple of others:

Xander: Standing up to Angelus at the hospital in Killed By Death, and standing up to Jack in The Zeppo.

Giles: Many, many examples, but I'll go with standing up to the Watcher's Council. Also, killing Ben

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Tracy

Hear that Baby? You're my always.

[Incarnadine]

Xander in "the Zeppo" where he stands up to the undead bully and is ready to stay with the bomb rather than running to safety

Willow (episode title eludes me) after killing the vampire with a pencil she has a clear opportunity to escape the mayor and faith but chooses to stay and read as much as she can about the ascention (and steal a few choice pages)

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Here's to the women who love me terribly,
May they soon improve.

[Italiangirl]

Great question!

I have a few examples.

For Xander: The troll episode (I'm not so good with the titles) where he is supposed to choose who lives between Willow and Anya. He doesn't, and procedes to get his hand broken and his ass kicked, and not only does he not choose, but over and over he goes back for more, without even hesitating.

Also at the end of Family when he tells Tara's brother he will break something if he tries to beat Tara. I think he was referring to the breaking that he, Xander would do, not just Buffy.

And how about bringing Buffy back to life the first time in Prophecy Girl? He was all heroic with the CPR.

For Willow: I agree about the episode where she chooses to stay in Sunnydale with Buffy and fight the good fight.

Also, the scene near the end of Season 3 where she faces of with Faith after Faith catches her reading. There is the infamous "Well BOO HOO" line that I always loved. She tells Faith that she should feel lucky to have someone like Buffy in her life, but instead she threw Buffy and all the other scoobies away. Definately one of her finest hours, IMO.

Another biggie is when she took control of the situation in The Weight of the World when all the scoobs were fighting. She broke up Spike and Xander, gave everyone a task, and then went into Buffy's mind to save her.

Tara: When Tara goes outside and comforts Dawn early in season 5 when the body is in the magic box, and she thumb wrestles her. Tara is Dawn's hero starting here, and then over and over.

There is also her series of interactions with Anya in Bargaining 1 and 2. She saves Anya from the biker who was riding off with her. She also yanked her into the bushes to hide her, and then comforted her at the magic box. Then she sent out tiny tinkerbell light to lead Willow and Xander back to town. She has a quiet bravery that really shines through. And of course, who could forget the ax? Nobody messes with her girl.

Giles: When he stood up for Tara at the end of Family. He knew Tara had cast a spell on them, but forgave her. He also sensed that Mr. Maclay was not going to pay heed to Buffy and Dawn being that they were woman, and he very obviously stepped in as the "Man" and stood up to Mr. Maclay.

I think killing Ben was definately another moment for Giles. I think he did it to spare Buffy from having to do so. He knew it would kill her. Ironic, no?

Anya: When she whacked the Byzantine knight with the frying pan in Spiral, and fought him off of Tara and Dawn.

Also when she tried to save Dawn early in Real Me, when Harmony kidnapped her. She got her arm broken or sprained or something, but still tried to save her.

I have more, but I'll stop for now. Love this thread!

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"You're in my blood like Holy Wine
You taste so bitter, and so sweet
Darling, I could drink a case of you
And still be on my feet;
I would still be on my feet."
-Joni Mitchell

[AutumnT]

I think the heroic Xander moments I like best are those of his biggest strength - his heart - rather than those of physical strength. Like when, despite having Cordy mock the hell out of him, he puts his heart out there and repairs that relationship by buying her that dress. A different type of heroic, but still putting yourself out there.

Still, the Zeppo really is a great episode for him. I just love the fact that while we are with Xander and his struggles in the background everyone else is having the BIG HUGE DRAMA of the umpteenth apocalypse doing the traditional Scooby bravery thing while he proves himself just as essential and brave as any of them. And they never get to know. Him knowing is enough. It's cool.

I like the comments about Tara and Dawn. In my view of what went on during the summer it was Tara who cobbled together that family unit we saw in "Bargaining". I'm betting she was behind moving in and giving Dawn parental figures while Willow was focussing on being the boss on the slayage front.

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Autumn

I'm just taking stuff and not paying for it. In what twisted dictionary is that stealing?

[Zahir]

I pretty much agree with everybody else's choices, but want to add some of my own...

Xander always struck me as his most brave when he told Anya he loved her, and publicly announced their engagement. On a more subtle note, I was mighty impressed when WeakXander was willing to let SuaveXander have everything--except Anya!

Willow was at her most heroic when she calmly examined a dead body to determine if he'd been killed by Oz. She was also wonderful when pretending to be VampWillow, when going up against Glory in "The Gift" and most of all as she struggles with her addiction.

Giles stood up to being tortured by Angelus. Wow. That he remained coherent and sane after finding Jenny was more than I could have done. Yet I think the hardest thing for him to do was leave Buffy's life.

Anya telling the Troll to kill her but leave Xander was right up there with rescuing him from the ghosts in the fraternity house.

Cordelia has grown soooooo much! When she publically announced she was keeping Xander as a boyfriend, that was heroic. So was choosing to be part-demon rather than lose her mission in life.

Tara's entire life has been heroic. I mean, have you seen her family!? That she emerged the wonderful lady she did out of that environment is as heroic as anything Buffy has ever done, imo. Yet I think going back to Willow will be braver still. To love again is hard. So is forgiveness.

Wesley btw seems to me in some ways to have the same courage as Tara. His father comes across as even worse than Mr.McClay, because Daddy Wyndham-Pryce apparently is more insidious.

I'll even mention Spike here, because he's the one enduring humiliation after humiliation (yeah a load of it is deserved, but still...) yet has stayed loyal not only to Buffy but to Dawn and Joyce as well.

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"O let my name be in the Book of Love.
If it be there, I care not of
That other book Above...
Strike it out! Or write it in anew.
But let it be in the Book of Love!"
--Omar Kyam

[Pixie]

Very interesting question!

I could only think of 2 more.

Giles: In Helpless, when he went against the Council's wishes and told Buffy about the test. If I'm remembering correctly, this is the first time he defies the Watcher's Council and Quentin Travers.

Tara: I don't know if this is a "turning point" for her, but in Hush, when she decides to go find Willow to try and do a spell to stop the Gentlemen, instead of cowering in her room. That was pretty heroic!

[The Rose]

Willow: I am going to go with more recent epiosodes where Willow is fighting to find her identity without magick. Twice Willow saves Buffy without it. The first time being when she figures out Warren and the geek squad are behind Buffy's recent mishaps and later on discovers Warren is trying to kill Buffy instead of making her visible again. The second time being in DMP when she decapitates and grinds the "penis monster." Ewwwwwww!!!!!

Tara: I am going to go way back to NMR. Even though Tara is madly in love with Willow, she still tells Willow about the Initiative capturing Oz. Tara also has to live with the possibility of Willow going back to Oz. Second, I am going to have go with Tara finally standing up to her misogynist family.
Third, the scene in "The Body" where Tara is confessing to Buffy about the death of her mother. Fourth, when she refuses to tell Glory who the key is. Fifth, in "Bargaining" when she axes the demon to save Willow.

Giles: In IWMTLY, when Giles tells Spike to leave Buffy alone and "Move the Hell On!!!!!"
Oh! how I wish he was here to do that now.!!! Also, when he kills Ben in "The Gift" when he knows Buffy will not.

Anya: A small but significant scene in "Shadow" when she finds out Giles sells a Khul's amulet and bloodstone to Glory. You know the spell Glory uses to create that snake monster Buffy beats the crap out of.

Xander: I am going to have to go with him telling Buffy to go after Riley in ITW. He sure is a better choice than Spike. This is one of the few times he stands up to
Buffy and tells her what the deal is. This a perfect example of Xander's heart.

[This message has been edited by The Rose (edited February 07, 2002).]

[juri-sempai]

They became hereos in "Welcome To The Hellmouth" when both Xander and Willow made the decision to stick with Buffy and take part in all the insuing craziness.

Faith's heroic moment came when she was inside Buffy's body in WAY. At the airport, but unable to leave when she catches the news report of vampiric activity at the church. She says the line she earlier mocked "you can't do this.... because it's wrong." Saying it with real conviction. Believing in her words.

Anya... hrm... in Triangle she helped to distract Olaf's attention by saying mean things to him. Oh oh! In WTWTA, she helped charge into the house to save Buffy and Riley from the evil poltergasm!

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Reincarnation: the futile attempt to get the milk back into the can

"I'm a blood-sucking fiend! Look at my outfit!"

[TaraMaclay]

I have to agree with Tara in 'Tough Love'. To stand up to protect someone (Dawn/Key") from a totally insane Hellgod. WOW! Keeping her cool, knowing exactly what the concequeence where going to be. And knowing full well what Glory might to to her.

O, and after reading this topic a little better. Yeah, and don't forget Dawn helping Spike with his wounds in the Trailer. Yeah, the wounds (sunburn) was caused by Tar. That that is overlooked because Glory have screwed up her mind. So Tara causing it doesn't really count.

Also, I don't think anyone mentioned this yet. Willow attempting a rathere dangerous spell, by going into Buffy's mind in 'Weight Of The World. If anything had gone wrong with that spell, here would have been the possibility that both of them could have been damaged.

And Willow actually being able to get that close to Glory and retrieve what she had taken from Tara.

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IM: Taramaclay69
Guardian of VampTara
--
Look, I realize that every slayer comes with a expiration mark stamped on the package.. But I want mine to be a long time from now.. Like a Cheeto.
----

[This message has been edited by TaraMaclay (edited February 07, 2002).]

[Wolfie]

I can only think of one more - Willow in Prophecy Girl, after she's found her friends dead in their common room. She's really shaken up about the fact that, not only do the vamps have the dark places outside, but have also the ability to enter the normal world. Depite that fact, she wants more than ever to fight them, and to find a way of stopping them. Me? I'd be sitting with a bucket on my head, going "bibble, eeep, ftang, etc"

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I am the sunlight on the sides of houses.

[Dr.G]

Great thread Autumn.
Hmmm they have all had so many brave moments, big and small. It is good for me to read some of Xander's. Sometimes I forget because I get so annoyed by some of his -uhm- lesser moments so to speak, but he is a good man. Willow and Tara are of course my main focus. So many moments come to mind.

As Tara's biggest moment I would choose her defiance of Glory as well, that was so moving, she did not consider giving in at all despite knowing that the worst she could think of would happen to her.

Seeking out Willow in Hush was so very brave as well, considering how shy she was at the time, and for Willow to open the door to see what was wrong then when everybody else was afraid to, maybe she did not save the world by that, but it that does not make it any less courageous, and they have all been a lot braver since, heh heh.

[tommo]

I pretty much agree with Garfield, in that Tara's 'defining moment' if you like; her heroism and devotion to the Scoobies was evident in just one gritting of the teeth; one firming of the jaw. I loved that. It was so subtle and yet, encompassed everything that was quintessentially Tara.

Willow...well she's had quite a few heroic moments. The one in Choices is probably my favorite, in fact, that whole episode is full of Willowheroics; choosing to go to university in Sunnydale, for example, heh heh.

Giles...well, I think Giles is an unsung hero. Maybe it's cuz I'm writing about him at the moment, but I love that guy. I think he was pretty heroic when he made the decision to leave Sunnydale once and for all. That must have been some wrench for his heart. Poor Giles.

Much as I care very little for Xander, I suppose you could say that he shows his heart is in the right place on occasion. Although, I just watched Revelations from Season 3 where it's so very very not...

But he has shown himself to be there when it counts. I thought standing up to the troll in Triangle and not making a choice between Willow and Anya was kind of heroic. He knew what would happen if he didn't choose...I liked that part.

Even Anya has proven herself worthy of heroism, by merely taking part in a lot of the Scooby fights. She went up against Glory last season, knowing what a powerful hellbitch the...um...the bitch was...heh. But I have a soft spot for Anya anyway...sorry folks.

I can't think of any more. Hmm. Great topic though.

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"Bitter, party of one. Bitter, party of one." she muttered... ~ Four Months After by Capt. Murdock

[invisigoth]

Great thread Autumn! I loved everyone's post so far and agree with all of them, particularly the heroic Willow moments in Choices.

Some other brave moments for the Scoobies:

Xander - Telling Anya that he was staying in Sunnydale for Graduation because he had friends on the line. He could have just have easily took off, but he stayed because he knew he was needed.

Anya - Fear Itself. She realized something freaky was going on in the house where everyone was stuck and she went to Giles for help. That seemed the first time she put aside her selfish demon ways and tried to actively help the gang.

Tara - standing up to Willow in Tabla Rasa. That was painful, but it was a brave and necessary thing to do. She knew that she couldn't respect herself for staying with someone who would hurt her like that.

Giles - I agree that he was extremely brave when he was tortured by Angelus in Becoming 2. I was also impressed with Wishverse Giles. He didn't have the benefit of the Slayer, and yet he fought bravely against a sea of vampires and demons. I would say that the whole alternate Scooby Gang was pretty darn brave.

Willow - I always had a soft spot for "resolve face" in Becoming 2. Also, choosing Tara was a brave decision in New Moon Rising.

Spike - Seeking Buffy out to help defeat Angelus. Sure, he was motivated to get his Skank-ho back. But I also think he thought it would be cool to be the hero for once.

Dawn - Willing to sacrafice herself for the world in The Gift.

By the way, hi I'm new.

[This message has been edited by invisigoth (edited February 07, 2002).]

[jomarch]

This is a great thread.

Anyway, totally agree that Tara's defining heroic moment was her standing up to Glory eventhough she was really frightened of being brainsucked (From Checkpoint i.e. so she's a brain sucker, at least vampire just kill you).

Willow and Xander were always heroic just because they chose to fight next to Buffy despite not having superpowers.

I think that Willow, Xander, Cordy and Oz still patrolling after Buffy ran away was pretty cool too.

As for Anya, not running away during an Apocalyspe and pushing Xander away from the falling bricks in the gift was heroic on her part.

[Thanatopsis]

My favorite of Willow's is pretty much all of Choices, standing up to Faith and deciding to stay in Sunnydale.

Xander in The Zeppo.

But even both of them in The Harvest. Both want to help. Willow researching and Xander (foolishly) following Buffy and trying to learn how to slay. The two of them even follow Buffy to the bronze, both of them doing some damage.

Tara definitely in Tough Love and Tabula Rasa.

Anya in The Gift. Staying for the apocalypse and not running like she did in Graduation.

The gang patroling in Anne definitely.

And the SG's signifigant others, joining in. Just because they're dating, doesn't mean they have to help fight.

T

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DAWN: I gave birth to a pterodactyl.
ANYA: Oh my god, did it sing?

[This message has been edited by Thanatopsis (edited February 07, 2002).]

[Princess Willow]

This is a wonderful thread, Autumn! I have loved reading everyone's responses so far.

The Scooby Gang, our "band of buggered"...to quote Spike are always proving themselves heroes. In their actions, their convictions and their beliefs.

Buffy: although she is "THE SLAYER" and is always portrayed as being the heroic one because she dispenses with the big bads, I have to say that the most heroic things she has done recently were to keep the job at the DMP because she knows she needs to make money and telling Tara about Spike. Both of these things will help her pull herself out of the hole she has dug herself into and they were both acts of bravery.

Willow: Staying in Sunnydale in Choices, Standing up to Faith, Glory, various Vampires disguised as "Evil Willow", Choosing to be with Tara instead of Oz, Supporting and encouraging Buffy in her fledgling love affairs while carrying the burden of having lost Oz, taking on the responibility of being the leader of the gang when Buffy died, always stepping up to the plate when Buffy or Giles asked, you name it, this girl has done it.

Tara: Standing up to Glory, Standing up to Willow, keeping a calm head in the midst of chaos, leaving Willow for a time so that they could both heal their wounds and come back stronger.

Xander: His brain may not always be in the right place but his heart normally is. Not choosing between Willow and Anya in Triangle, his actions in The Zeppo, his speech to Buffy in Into the Woods, even buying Cordy's dress for the Prom. God only knows how he came up with the money.

Anya: Pushing Xander out of the way of the falling bricks in The Gift, her breakdown in The Body was brave because she let her defenses down for the first time, coming up with the weapons needed to fight Glory in The Gift.

Giles: His acts of heroism and bravery are too numerous to list but most prominently, leaving Sunnydale, standing up to the Council and Quentin Travers and disposing of Ben.

Spike: Although not a hero in the conventional sense, he has risked his life (such as it is) again and again to aid the SG in fighting evil. He has been a protector to Dawn and did genuinely like Joyce and I believe her death hit him harder than he admitted. I believe his bravery has shined through in a few episodes although most brilliantly in The Gift when he rushed up to that platform to save Dawn. The look of anguish in his eyes as Doc held him over the side showed how much compassion he had for Dawn and for Buffy.

I know I rambled on forever on this...so sorry. It was just such an incredible thread! Thank you so much!

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"Lord what fools these mortals be."

[This message has been edited by Princess Willow (edited February 07, 2002).]