Caleb
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- "I know what you're thinking: "Crazy Preacher Man, spoutin' off about the Whore of Babylon" or some such. That ain't me. I'm not here to lecture you. What's the point? My words just curdle in your ears, you don't take in a thing. So much filth inside your head, ain't no room for the words of truth."
- ―Caleb[src]
Caleb was a misogynistic defrocked preacher and serial killer who served The First Evil as its leading enforcer. He was portrayed by Nathan Fillion.
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Biography
The Calling
- The First: "All these girls...they followed you willingly. You tricked them."
- I only told them the truth.: "The First and Caleb"
- — Dirty Girls
Prior to becoming the right-hand man of the First Evil, Caleb was a defrocked priest and serial killer responsible for the deaths of at least two girls, whom he lured with his stirring sermons and masculine charm. One of these was Betty, the second girl was apparently a choirgirl in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Caleb was responsible for organizing the Harbingers of Death's systematic attacks on the Potential Slayers, as well as their respective Watchers. Caleb was also responsible the bombing of the Watchers' Council Headquarters in London, causing the deaths of Quentin Travers and many other Watchers, such as Phillip, Lydia and Nigel. However, while the Council was indeed crippled, a few Watchers, such as Roger Wyndam-Pryce and Duncan Fillworthe survived the First's onslaught.
After the destruction of the Council, Caleb traveled to the United States. He presented himself at a Catholic mission in the town of Gilroy. He was welcomed and given food, though he disturbed the mission's members because of his rantings about destiny. Caleb uncovered a secret room which bore the inscription "Is is not for thee. It is for her alone to wield". Afterwards, Caleb turned on his benefactors, burning his mark into one of them and killing the rest. Later he seemingy travelled to the women's prison in Stockton, where tried to have Faith Lehane eliminated by her fellow inmate Debbie, though the would-be-assassin failed in her task.
Sunnydale
- "You girls are just burning with righteousness, aren't you? Problem is, you think they're blazing like suns, when really you're matchsticks in the face of the darkness."
- ―Caleb to Buffy[src]
Afterwards, Caleb made his way to Sunnydale, running into a Potential Slayer named Shannon on a highway. Shannon had been on the way to Sunnydale as well, but was targeted by a group of Bringers who drove her right to Caleb's truck. Believing herself to be safe, Shannon told Caleb she was on her way to Revello Drive. Caleb quickly turned on Shannon, burning his mark on the side of her neck, stabbing her in the stomach and throwing her to the highway, knowing she would be found by Willow Rosenberg and Faith. Before injuring her, Caleb gave Shannon a message for Buffy Summers: "I have something of yours".
After arriving in Sunnydale, Caleb set up camp at the Shadow Valley Vineyards, where the Bringers began to dig in order to find the artifact Caleb had been seeking in the Gilroy Mission. Due to Caleb's challenge, the Scooby Gang attacked the Vineyard. In the ensuing fight, Caleb murdered two potential Slayers and effortlessly defeated Buffy, Faith, and Spike. Before the Scooby Gang retreated, he also managed to violently blind Xander Harris in one eye by forcing his thumb into Harris' left eye socket.
In the series finale, "Chosen", Caleb was killed in a final confrontation with Buffy the newly-arrived Angel. With Angel watching, Buffy pierced Caleb's abdomen with the Scythe, apparently killing him. Much to their shock, Caleb was revived with another power transfusion from the First and immediately knocked Angel unconscious with a devastating blow. Buffy and Caleb exchanged blows once again. However, Buffy managed to slice him vertically in half and put him down permanently.
Later in the episode, the First Evil appeared to Buffy, manifesting under the guise of the slain Caleb. The First lectureed Buffy on the futility of her campaign against it, and it is this meeting that encourages Buffy to come up with her plan to activate the remaining Potentials to full Slayer status using the essence of the Scythe.
Powers and abilities
- "You're in me. Gave me strength no man can have."
- ―Caleb to The First[src]
Caleb's body served as a vessel for the power of the noncorporeal First Evil. With the possible exception of Glory, Caleb's strength dwarfed that of Buffy's previous adversaries. His strength and durability allowed him to defeat both Slayers as well as a vampire as strong as Spike with relative ease as well as punching through solid concrete and sending an opponent flying for dozens of feet with a single blow. Caleb's empowerment also allowed him to survive lethal injuries, as demonstrated when he revived after being severely wounded with the Scythe.
- "It's been a while since we've... merged."
- ―The First[src]
However, Caleb's powers were only temporary, requiring periodical mergers with the First's manifestation in order to sustain it. The merger caused Caleb's eyes to turn temporarily solid black and mutated his blood, turning it black as well.
Personality and traits
- "You were born dirty. Born without a soul, born with that gaping maw that wants to open up and suck out a man's marrow. Makes me puke to think too hard on it."
- ―Caleb's view of women[src]
Behind his priest's collar, Caleb was a sadistic sociopath with a pathological hatred of women. Impressed by his body's fortitude as well as his single-minded nature, the First Evil made him the commander of its campaign of carnage and mayhem. He liked to reenact his killings by asking the First to take on the form of the girls he killed, so that he may "kill them again."
Beliefs
- "She didn't know the good news, the glory that was coming. That'd be you. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever."
- ―Caleb to the First[src]
Caleb often delivered quasi-biblical quotes, frequently even making allusions to his belief that the First was actually God. Caleb seemed to quote the Old Testament in order to support his own twisted beliefs. For example, his views on women being evil related to his views on Eve, the biblical first female (in Jewish and Christian book of Genesis), and how she gave Adam, the first created man and first created human, the forbidden fruit. When the First, asked Caleb if he thought the First was God, Caleb replied that he believed the First is beyond such definition.
Caleb also commented further on his admiration of the First, when it (under the guise of Buffy) vocalized its envy of humans' ability to feel lust and engage in primal sexual acts and/or violence. Caleb dismissed them all as "sinners," commenting enthusiastically that the First is miles beyond that, for it is "Sin" itself.
Behind the scenes
- Nathan Fillion is one of three actors who had appeared on Whedon's Firefly series who later played a villain on one of Whedon's other shows, along with Gina Torres and Adam Baldwin, who respectively portrayed Jasmine and Marcus Hamilton.
- When asked about Caleb's religious connections, Joss Whedon said, "I'm not coming down against priests. This guy clearly is not one".
Appearances
- Dirty Girls
- Empty Places
- Touched
- End of Days
- Chosen (Killed)
- A Beautiful Sunset (Only in flashbacks)
- Always Darkest (in dreams)
