I picked Xander's actions in OMWF as 'most unforgivable act by a popular character' only because it seemed to represent what was (for me) the most troublesome part of Xander's character: the fact that he seemed to be held much less accountable than everyone else, while simultaneously being extremely judgmental of others' failings.
I'm still steamed about that lie he told Buffy in "Becoming, pt. 2" (Willow says 'kick his ass'), since he never had to answer for it or for the devastating consequences it helped create for Buffy (whom he then proceeded to punish when she returned in season 3), and the fact that he summoned the song-and-dance demon in OMWF (and thus inadvertently caused the deaths of a number of random Sunnydale citizens) but a) didn't seem to be in any hurry to 'fess up to it, even when it became clear that Dawn was taking the rap for his actions, and b) never had to suffer any consequences or blame for that choice . . . well, that's just a very telling symptom (it seems to me) of the larger illness.
I can't decide whether Xander seemingly got off relatively scot-free for his destructive choices because he was the Joss-stand-in character and got special 'most-favored' treatment, OR because the writers held him to be weaker than everybody else on the show and thus his bad choices were seen as 'only to be expected' from someone like him. Either way, it doesn't strike me as particularly healthy.
a lame 'most unforgivable' choice, but symptomatic of larger issues
I'm still steamed about that lie he told Buffy in "Becoming, pt. 2" (Willow says 'kick his ass'), since he never had to answer for it or for the devastating consequences it helped create for Buffy (whom he then proceeded to punish when she returned in season 3), and the fact that he summoned the song-and-dance demon in OMWF (and thus inadvertently caused the deaths of a number of random Sunnydale citizens) but a) didn't seem to be in any hurry to 'fess up to it, even when it became clear that Dawn was taking the rap for his actions, and b) never had to suffer any consequences or blame for that choice . . . well, that's just a very telling symptom (it seems to me) of the larger illness.
I can't decide whether Xander seemingly got off relatively scot-free for his destructive choices because he was the Joss-stand-in character and got special 'most-favored' treatment, OR because the writers held him to be weaker than everybody else on the show and thus his bad choices were seen as 'only to be expected' from someone like him. Either way, it doesn't strike me as particularly healthy.