Because I'm curious - The Buffy Fandom Character Wars Poll

[shadowkat]

I got curious about this while reading a post on the internet...don't ask which one.
Weird things inspire me. Anyhoo...I left out the obvious ones, because let's face it we already know who prefers Xander to Spike, Buffy to Spike, and Spike to Angel - we've argued those to death. Really. Who cares?? But these are harder choices because in a lot of these cases, people dearly love both characters. I'm making you pick one. Roll the dice. Which one at this particular point in time do you prefer? [ETA: DO NOT OVERTHINK THIS PEOPLE. BY PREFER - I mean which character you liked or enjoyed watching on the show better as a fictional character in the series. Not who you think is the better human being, more morally upstanding, or prefer as a role model for the kiddies or to hang with or be your best bud. This is a fictional character fandom poll not who I want to be friends with or marry poll.]

Don't worry, you're not being held to it. You can change your mind next week or tomorrow as the case may be. I certainly will. Polls are anything but definitive.

I do hope more than 10 people respond or I'll look like an idiot. ;-)

[Poll #1850464]

Comments

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

Who would've guessed that the most for me the most difficult to choose between would be Anya V. Cordy

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

It was oddly enough...for me too. After I posted the poll, I thought, damn.
It depends on which day of the week and the mood I'm in.

[embers-log.livejournal.com]

this poll does seem kind of random since a lot of these characters I love a lot and others I never ever cared for at all. So if you pit two I dislike, like Connor and Dawn, then my choice is even more meaningless than when you compare two I adore like Giles and Wesley.
How about a rating of best to worst:
Giles
Willow
Buffy
Spike
Wesley
Jonathan
Anya
Faith
Andrew
Gunn
Dawn
Connor
Angel
Cordelia
Warren
Riley
who did I leave out? LOL

I'm fascinated by Mark's love of Cordelia and I'm looking forward to his seeing Ats S4 when Cordelia gets really icky.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

I still hold a grudge over what they did to Cordy. Taking her over, forcing her into eye-spork sex, forcing her to give birth to a hell god then KILLING her.

Not cool, dude.

Not. Cool.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

I'm fascinated by Mark's love of Cordelia and I'm looking forward to his seeing Ats S4 when Cordelia gets really icky.

Oh yeah...that boy is in for a world of pain. His favorite characters are Willow, Tara, Cordelia and Anya...Bwhahhahhahh! We know what happens to Tara and Anya...and Willow and Cordy have horrific arcs.
Diehard fans of those characters went batshit during S6 of Buffy and S4 of Angel. It's why a lot of those fans hate those seasons.


How about a rating of best to worst?

Hee, your choices are interesting. You like Giles better than I did. (Don't get me wrong - I adored ASH, but Giles had a lot in common with Uther Pendragon.)

Spike
Buffy
Willow
Xander
Faith
Giles
Wesley
Anya
Angel
Gunn
Cordelia
Connor
Dawn
Riley
Jonathan
Andrew
Warren

Damn, that was hard. Sorry, my poll is a lot easier. ;-)

[rose-griffes.livejournal.com]

For a lot of these choices, the answer depends on when, and which show. I far prefer Giles to Wesley on BtVS, but Wesley wins my fannish love on Angel.

And even the word prefer is tricky. Prefer to hang out with? Prefer to watch at a safe distance? Prefer to imagine as my BFF?

[embers-log.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I really agree: Wesley was my very favorite character on 'Angel' (with Lorne coming in second).

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

LMAO!!

You're over-thinking this. Just pick the one you happen to like on tv better at the moment. ;-)

Prefer means - I like watching on tv better than the other character.
(They are fictional characters after all - they do not exist. Which means they can't be your BFF, sorry them's the breaks.)

[kikimay]

Hi! My answers are: Buffy, Spike, Willow, Anya, Spike, Connor (but, to be honest, I'm kinda indifferent to both), Gunn, Willow, Buffy, Wesley (But they are at the same level! Hard decision, I love both) Jonathan, Spike and "sometimes" (so, yes)

[rebcake.livejournal.com]

That was easy! Give me some more!

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Uh...

Darla vs. Dru

Harmony vs. Amy

Harmony vs. Cordy

Cordy vs. Faith

Spike vs. Harmony

Lilah vs. Eve

Lilah vs. Lindsey

Doyle vs. Wesely

Doyle vs. Whistler

Angelus vs. the Mayor

Have at it. ;-)

[ann1962]

I pick Riley now, but probably would have picked one of the others back in the day. Riley's character has aged well on the show, surprisingly enough.

And I have extremely mixed feelings about Willow.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately that horrible S6 episode As You Were destroyed the character of Riley for me forever...not helped greatly by the Whedon comic books.;-)

Now, if I skip AYW...or forget it...than I like him better.

And I have extremely mixed feelings about Willow.

I do as well. Her character arc is uneven...the writers blended too many metaphors and as a result it go really muddied in S6 and S7. Also, I felt they didn't do a good enough job of redeeming the character in S7, they sort of let her off the hook - "bad evil magic made me do it".
I really wanted a Spike/Willow conversation.

[sophist.livejournal.com]

I couldn't answer between Spike and Willow. They're tied for second behind Buffy.

And damn, I actually had to pick Xander ahead of Riley and Gunn. I need a shower now. :)

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

LOL! I surprised you didn't pick Gunn...then again maybe not, Gunn has almost no arc. And the one he did have bordered on cliche. I liked the character, but not until the 4th and 5th Season...where they sort of jumped beyond the cliche and tried to develop him a little bit.

Like I was telling ann1962 above, I liked Riley until AYW. Now if I could just expunge that episode from my memory...I seriously think it was hands down the worst episode of the entire series, yes, even worse than Beer Bad, Where the Wild Things Are, Doomed, Teacher's Pet, Doublemeat Palace, Older and Farther Away, Wrecked, Gone, All The Way, Two to Go, Showtime, Inca Mummy Girl, Bad Eggs, etc. All those episodes I can find something to redeem them. Something I liked. As You Were? I got nothing. Bad episode. Which may explain why Doug Petrie hasn't done that much. That was his episode - he wrote, directed, and did everything - with no interference. Big mistake.

Hee. I knew you wouldn't be able to pick between Spike and Willow, but I was curious to see...LOL!

[cactuswatcher.livejournal.com]

Disclaimer: I really like all of the characters listed exccept the Trio and Cordy of season 4 Angel.

Even Riley!

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

LOL!

I feel more or less the same way. I liked Riley except for S6 Riley.

And the only member of the Trio that I could stand was Jonathan, and since I didn't like Jonathan, that says something.

[As an aside, Adam Busch who played Warren? Excellent musician and wonderful in person. I saw him sing a capella with his friend for a band Common Rotation and it's actually good. Actually he's a good actor - he did a great job of making Warren a complete scumbag. He's almost unrecognizable in other things. And Danny Strong who played Jonathan is a decent screenwriter.]

[liliaeth]

I must admit that the only reason I voted Warren, is because I'd rather have a creepy asshole whom we're supposed to see as such, than annoying losers like Andrew and Jonathan that we're supposed to find funny.

[ubi4soft.livejournal.com]

I'm not exactly reading Mark Watches as much as +1 likes for the pretty picspams, gifs and comments I agree with

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure I read him myself so much as scan him. But he's definitely entertaining.

[ms-scarletibis.livejournal.com]

Huh. Was kinda surprised at the lack of turn out for Cordy, and I thought Faith would be Willow easily...

Also, Jonathan as the trio fave was also a tad surprising.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Knowing my flist and the sector of the fandom that follows me...not so much.

It's partly because I'm really not a huge Cordy or Faith fan...although there are several people who have been reading me since 2002 that are and hate Spike. We've connected over other things. They don't read my fandom posts that often, I suspect. So that's not a definitive answer by any means.

I suspect the one's who are only interested in my Buffy posts from the current Buffy fandom...tend to swing more towards my own tastes. The ones who don't share my tastes in Buffy, avoid me. It's admittedly easier to do here than on the boards.

[shapinglight]

The Anya/Cordy question was the hardest. I'm glad there was an opportunity to pick Cordy later on.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I have to admit, it's a toss-up between Anya and Cordy. Today I prefer Anya, but I also haven't watched the series in 4 years.

[menomegirl.livejournal.com]

Whoo Hoo!

I love this poll! Thank you for making it.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

You're very welcome. ;-)

Have to admit - I enjoyed it more than I thought.

[zanthinegirl.livejournal.com]

You know, some of these answers depend on the season. For example I like early willow more than Cordelia, but later on...