- “I am more than beast. I am the One Who Will Lead.”
- ―Harth Fray[src]
Harth Fray was a vampire master who lived in the 23rd century and the twin brother of the Slayer Melaka Fray. He was sired by the lurk Icarus, but became his sire's master.[3]
Biography[]
Life and siring[]
Harth grew up in Versi, a ghetto-like district in the city of Haddyn, with his older sister Erin and younger twin sister Melaka. At the age of fourteen, Harth went with Melaka on one of her grabs, and the twins were attacked by the lurk Icarus. Melaka tried to fight Icarus off, only to be thrown off the building's rooftop, while the lurk fed on Harth, killing him.[4]
Because he was the twin brother of the Slayer, Harth inherited her natural precognitive abilities, having the instinctive knowledge of how to become a vampire during the attack, siring himself in his last moments. Thanks to this ability, he then became known as the One Who Will Lead, the undisputed vampire master of Haddyn.[3]
The One Who Will Lead[]
For four years, Harth gathered a number of talismans through Gunther. These talismans would allow him to perform a ritual to raise Neauth, an Old One whose womb would serve as a gateway between Earth and a demon dimension. This action did not sit well with Boluz and Vrill, two Old Ones who hoped to unleash apocalypse but on their own terms and schedules. They sent the demon Urkonn of the D'Avvrus to train Harth's sister in the ways of a Slayer, and she subsequently defeated Harth's attempt at ending the world.[5]
Later, Harth came to ally himself with the mysterious "Black Hope": a centuries-old Willow Rosenberg apparently gone dark once again. Together they conspired to bring 21st century Slayer Buffy Summers to their time. Although, Willow told Harth that doing so would end their reality, while telling Melaka that Buffy's return to her own time that would end their reality. In the end, he attempted to rebel against Willow, but she ensured that Gunther would seek vengeance on Harth after his failed assassination attempt. With Harth only playing as a minor pawn, Dark Willow was killed by Buffy, who returned to her own time, and Haddyn appeared to continue existing.[6]
The Reckoning[]
An unidentified sorcerer desired to use the Scepter of the Veils go back to the Reckoning and take advantage of it, making himself all powerful and rule in his own era. His plans were ruined when Harth revealed to have infiltrated his group by siring the sorcerer's minions, and took the scepter for his own use. Harth went back in time to the 21st century and assembled a number of demons ready to attack Willow's empowerment center. When questioned about this decision, he simply answered it was because this was how he remembered it happening.[7]
Harth allied himself with the demons Richard Wilkins, Ocypete, Tauron, among others, giving intel for Wolfram & Hart to coordinate an attack against the empowerment center and its Slayers. Meanwhile, Buffy recognized Harth as the source Angel heard about, and organized with the Scooby Gang to confront against him and his army at Wolfram & Hart Silicon Valley branch. Overpowered, the Scoobies had to run away from the battle, but sought Melaka and Erin in the 23rd century for help,[7] who returned with them to the 21st to stop Harth's plan.[8]
The battle began and Buffy eventually, out of desperation, convinced Willow to cast a spell to give her the collective powers of all active Slayers. However, just as they began the spell, Harth jumped in, using a staff used by one of the Shadowmen to steal the power for himself. He gloated that he would use the power to kill them, then return to his time and conquer it.[9] With no other way, the Scoobies opened a portal to a hell dimension and began forcing the demons through, as history dictated.[1]
Harth proceeded to overpower the combined might of Buffy and Melaka, gloating that he then intended to stay behind and conquer the world, shaping the future in his own image. However, at that moment, his body began to break down under the strain of his power, which Buffy and Melaka used to their advantage to stake him with the Slayer weapon Mʔ. As Harth slowly turned into dust, laying in Mel's lap, the twins apologized for each other.[1]
Legacy[]
With Harth dusted, the Slayer powers flowed back to their previous owners, while also bestowing Melaka with the Slayer memories she had lacked for so long. Melaka and Erin subsequently returned to their time, and were shocked to discover that Haddyn was significantly improved from when they left. After winning the Reckoning, Willow's knowledge of the future steered her center's work toward preventing the dystopian future they witnessed from coming to pass.[1]
Powers and abilities[]
Harth possessed all of the powers and abilities of an ordinary vampire, such as superhuman strength, speed, agility, durability, accelerated healing, and immortality. He also possessed the memories of past Slayers inherited through his twin sister, which allowed him to know how to be sired in the first place.[3] Harth was one of the very vampires to know how to assume a human appearance, whereas most of vampires had long forgotten it.[7]
Harth also was able to predict his enemies' strategies based on his Slayer memories. After robbing the collective power of all active Slayers from Buffy Summers,[9] he also had their combined strength, as well as the psychic connection with the line, which eventually caused his demise as he wasn't able to process it. Such power made his dusting happen slower than it normally world, and his death allowed his power to flow back to its previous owners, including his twin sister's Slayer memories.[1]
Gallery[]
Behind the scenes[]
- He was voiced by Jeff Shuter in the Season Eight Motion Comic.
Appearances[]
| Fray: Future Slayer | |||||||||||
| Big City Girl Flashback |
The Calling Flashback |
Ready, Steady... Flashback |
Out of the Past Appears |
The Worst of It Appears |
Alarums Appears |
The Gateway Appears |
All Hell Appears | ||||
| Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 12 | |||||||||||
| One Year Later Appears |
Future Shock Appears |
The Reckoning Appears |
Finale Appears | ||||||||