"Seven years, [...] Working with the Slayer. Seeing my friends get more and more powerful. [...] All of them. And I'm the guy who fixes the windows. They'll never know how tough it is, Dawnie. To be the one who isn't chosen, to live so near to the spotlight and never step in it. But I know. I see more than anybody realizes because nobody's watching me."
Alexander "Xander" Lavelle Harris was a close friend of SlayerBuffy Summers and a founding member of the Scooby Gang. Being the only one of his group of friends to not possess any supernatural abilities, Xander was usually the one who saw everything beyond the supernatural. Besides this, Xander was known to be very humorous and sarcastic, especially in the face of danger.
Xander was born to Anthony and Jessica Harris and grew up in the small California town of Sunnydale. Xander's father was a self-pitying drunk while his mother was a fragile mess; both parents were negligent and even abusive towards their son, leaving him with various insecurities.[2][3] Xander's lifelong best friend was Willow Rosenberg, who secretly harbored a hopeless crush on him. The pair briefly "dated" when they were five, but broke up over a stolen Barbie.[4] In kindergarten, Xander suffered an unknown humiliation involving Aquaman underpants.[5] Xander and Willow developed a mutual hatred of their snobby classmate Cordelia Chase, which led them to form the "We Hate Cordelia Club", of which Xander was the treasurer.[6] At his sixth birthday party, Xander's parents hired a clown which chased him; this traumatic incident gave him a lifelong phobia of clowns and caused him to suffer from nightmares.[7] When Xander did not get a toy firetruck for his seventh birthday, the house next door burned down and he believed that Willow had set the fire to let him see real firetrucks.[8] When he was thirteen, he attended Willow's bat mitzvah, where his drunken parents caused a scene.[2]
In his sophomore year of high school, Xander met Buffy Summers on her first day at Sunnydale High and overheard her bizarre conversation with school librarian Rupert Giles regarding demons and vampires.[4] Xander and Willow discovered that Sunnydale was situated on a Hellmouth and that Buffy was actually the Slayer, granted supernatural powers and destined to fight the forces of evil. When his other best friend, Jesse McNally, was kidnapped and turned into a vampire, Xander fought him and accidentally staked him when someone pushed Jesse into the stake Xander was holding. After stopping the Harvest together, Buffy, Xander, Willow, and Giles formed the "Scooby Gang", a small group of people who helped Buffy fight the forces of darkness.[9] Xander's exploits with the Scoobies included nearly being raped and decapitated by the She-Mantis,[10] being possessed by the spirit of a hyena,[11] and having his nightmares about the clown from his sixth birthday party come to life.[7] Developing romantic feelings for Buffy, Xander was jealous of her brief relationship with loner Owen Thurman and her attraction to handsome stranger Angel.[12] His hostility towards Angel grew stronger when he learned that Angel was a vampire, albeit one with a soul.[13] Xander finally admitted his feelings to Buffy, and was bitterly disappointed when she rejected him. However, he later saved her life by performing CPR when she was drowned by the Master, something Angel was unable to do due to his lack of breath.[14]
In his junior year, Xander shared a brief relationship with a foreign exchange student who turned out to be an Incan Mummy[15] On Halloween, a spell caused the trick-or-treaters of Sunnydale to take on the personalities and/or traits of their costumes, transforming Xander into a soldier. When the spell was lifted, he retained his memories and knowledge of the military.[16] While hiding from a demonic assassin in Buffy's basement, the tension between Xander and Cordelia resulted in a kiss, and the pair began a secret relationship.[17] When Willow discovered their affair, she was devastated and offended that Xander would rather be with Cordelia than her.[6] Eventually, Cordelia's friends found out about the relationship as well, and Cordelia became alienated from the popular crowd, leading her to break up with Xander on Valentine's Day. Wanting revenge, Xander coerced Amy Madison to cast a love spell on Cordelia so he could hurt her. The spell backfired, and Xander became irresistible to every female in Sunnydale except Cordelia, who, realizing that Xander genuinely cared for her, reunited with him in defiance of her former friends.[18] Xander's infiltration of the Sunnydale High Swim Team nearly led to him being transformed into a Gill Monster.[19] When Angel lost his soul and reverted to the evil Angelus, Xander felt that his long-standing mistrust of the vampire had been validated, especially when he murdered Giles' girlfriend, Jenny Calendar.[20] Xander encouraged Buffy to kill Angelus, deliberately neglecting to tell her that Willow was planning to re-ensoul him.[21]
"It must be really hard when all your friends have, like, superpowers—Slayer, werewolf, witches, vampires—and you're, like, this little nothing. You must feel like... Jimmy Olsen."
―Cordelia questions Xander's usefulness to the Scooby Gang.[src]
Xander began to have a romantic interest in Willow in their senior year of high school, and they shared a kiss that contributed to Cordelia suffering a near-fatal injury,[22] and Cordelia's anger led to the arrival of the vengeance demon Anyanka in Sunnydale.[23] Xander was the first of the Scoobies to discover Angel's return from Hell, and that Buffy has been secretly rehabilitating him and still had feelings for him. Furious and disgusted that Buffy still loved Angel after Angelus' siege against Sunnydale only a year before, Xander immediately informed the other Scoobies of Angel's return and even went so far as to manipulate Faith Lehane into attempting to slay him. However, when Angel saved Willow from being killed by a corrupt ex-Watcher who was allegedly assigned to Faith, Xander begrudgingly accepted him back into the fold [24]. Following their break-up, Cordelia stepped up her usual ridicule of Xander, labeling him "The Zeppo" and mocking him for being useless compared to his friends, who were Slayers, witches, werewolves, and vampires. In an attempt to prove her wrong, Xander embarked on an adventure with a group of zombies, led by tough guy Jack O'Toole, and lost his virginity to Faith in the process. However, when O'Toole and his friends tried to blow up Sunnydale High, Xander single-handedly put an end to their plan.[25] Later, he was asked to the Prom by Anya, formerly the vengeance demon Anyanka. During this time, he discovered that Cordelia's family lost their wealth, home, and cars because of her father's tax evasion, and made peace with Cordelia by helping her pay for her prom dress. At his high school graduation, Xander led Sunnydale High's students against Mayor Wilkins and his vampires.[26]
Xander's inferiority complex and feelings of isolation increased when he chose not to enroll in college like his friends had. After graduating from high school, he set upon a cross-country trip inspired by Jack Kerouac's On the Road that ended when his car broke down. Returning to Sunnydale, he moved into his parents' basement, where he had to pay rent, and took a series of odd jobs as a food vendor, a bartender, a phone-sex operator, and a deliveryman. Xander's problems multiplied when he was forced to accept Spike as a roommate for a short time while the Scoobies were hiding from the Initiative. After very little persuasion, he had sex with Anya and they began dating. Initially, his interest in Anya was purely sexual, but as time went on, he developed genuine feelings for her, eventually falling in love. In a dream, Xander gave Buffy his "heart" in the spell that defeated Adam.[27]
"You know what? I'm sick of this crap. I'm sick of being the guy who eats insects and gets the funny syphilis. As of this moment, it's over. I'm finished being everybody's butt-monkey!"
―Xander decides to take control of his directionless life.[src]
Xander eventually matured, pursuing a more stable career in carpentry and construction work, and moving into his own apartment with Anya. When the famous vampire, Dracula, came to Sunnydale in search of the Slayer, he hypnotized Xander into briefly becoming his willing manservant.[28] The pair apparently remained in touch through letters following Dracula's departure.[29] After being hit by the demon Toth's Ferula Gemini, Xander was split into two separate beings; one displaying his strengths while carrying a flattened nickel and one displaying his weaknesses.[8] He defended Willow and Anya equally from Anya's ex-boyfriend, Olaf the Troll, despite being forced to choose between them.[30] Shortly before going into battle with the hell-goddess Glory, Xander asked Anya to marry him should they survive.
Xander had doubts about his future with Anya. Hoping for a happy ending, he summoned the demon Sweet to turn Sunnydale into a living musical, which went horribly wrong when people started bursting into flames as well as song.[31] Xander's fears over marrying Anya were made worse by a visit from a demon pretending to be his future self, showing him a bitter future trapped in a marriage similar to that of his parents.[2] Although the vision was later revealed to be false, Xander became more conscious of the doubts he was already having, and decided call off the wedding, leaving a heartbroken Anya at the altar. When Anya subsequently had sex with Spike at the Magic Box, Xander attacked and very nearly killed him in a jealous rage, but abandoned those plans out of anger and disgust when he and the other Scoobies discovered that Buffy and Spike had been sleeping together behind their backs for quite some time.[32] When Spike subsequently attempted to rape Buffy, Xander was infuriated, and later realized that Buffy had not told them about her relationship with Spike because she knew that Xander would react as he had. Xander subsequently made amends with Buffy.[33] When Willow's girlfriend, Tara Maclay, was fatally shot by Warren Mears, who was trying to kill Buffy, Xander blamed himself for both that and Willow's subsequent turn to the dark side, remarking that he had seen Warren's gun before he raised it and was merely frozen with fear while he shot both Buffy and Tara. Xander was so enraged at Tara's death that he supported Willow's intentions to kill Warren in revenge until she actually did so.[34] When Willow attempted to destroy the world, it is Xander who stopped her, simply by refusing to leave her and loving her, which manages to return her to her senses and restore her humanity.[35]
Xander struggled over his feelings with Anya, as well as suffering a devastating injury. When Buffy's sister Dawn mistakenly believed herself to be a Potential Slayer, Xander empathized with her disappointment at not being the one in the spotlight.[36] Despite admitting that they still loved each other, he and Anya finally broke up for good, but continued to have the odd fling in times of crisis. Xander had his left eye gouged out by the evil preacher Caleb, and began wearing an eye patch.[37][38] In the final battle against the First Evil, Anya was killed by a Bringer's sword, and her body remained in the new Sunnydale High's ruins as the empty town was swallowed by the earth. Andrew Wells, whom she had fought alongside, comforted Xander by saying that Anya had died saving his life. Xander replied by saying, "That's my girl. Always doing the stupid thing."
Following Sunnydale's destruction, Xander took a "leave of absence" from the Scooby Gang to mourn Anya's death.[29] He spent some time in Africa,[39] and eventually reunited with Dracula. Falling under his thrall again, Xander resumed his old position as the vampire's loyal manservant, living with him in his Transylvanian castle for several months, during which the pair provided each other company and Xander taught Dracula how to ride a motorcycle.[40][29] Buffy eventually tracked her friend down and showed up at Dracula's castle with two other Slayers in a bid to rescue him, but the brainwashed Xander remained loyal to his "master" and tried to fight them off. Eventually, Dracula admitted that Xander belonged with his friends, and, after an emotional farewell, released him from his trance.[40] Xander returned to the Scooby Gang, which had expanded into a worldwide organization, and took on a Watcher-like role leading various Slayer squads from the central command base in Scotland via computer screens and earpieces.[41]
Xander became a confidante to Dawn after she was turned into a giant by her Thricewise ex-boyfriend Kenny; she admitted to only Xander that Kenny cursed her because she slept with his roommate Nick. Xander also began a flirtatious relationship with a Slayer named Renee, eventually asking her out on a date. When the Scoobies came under attack from Japanese vampires with unsual powers, Xander reluctantly recruited his former master Dracula as an ally to help bring them down.[42] In Tokyo, the Slayers confronted the vampires, and Renee was brutally killed by the leader, Toru.[43] Dracula protected a grief-stricken Xander during the battle and fought Toru, but handed the killing blow over to Xander, who decapitated him. Afterwards, Xander scattered Renee's ashes and angrily told Dracula that he would no longer be the vampire's manservant.[44] Dawn's bizarre mystical transformations continued when she turned into a centaur; Xander assured her she looked "awesome" as a centaur and even rode her to safety when their Scotland base came under attack from the Twilight terrorist organization.
When Dawn was finally released from her transformation curse by Kenny, she and Xander realized they had developed romantic feelings for one another and began a relationship in private. This relationship was eventually discovered by a devastated Buffy, who admitted that she too was now attracted to Xander.[45] Buffy tried to explain her feelings to Xander, but he gently dismissed them as her need for connection and informed her that he was in love with her sister.[46] When the apocalypse known as Twilight threatened the existence of the entire universe, Xander suggested to Dawn that if they survived, the pair of them get an apartment together and live a normal life. Dawn was later injured by a demon inside the crater that was once Sunnydale; Xander carried her to safety and accepted medical help from their enemy, the General. The General observed that Xander and Dawn were ordinary people caught up in a magical war that wasn't theirs, leading Xander to believe they wouldn't survive. After she and Xander witnessed Giles die, Buffy finally defeated Twilight by smashing the Seed of Wonder, but severed Earth's connection to magic in the process.
With magic cut off from the world, the Slayer organization disbanded and the Scoobies returned to relatively normal lives. As they had planned, Xander and Dawn moved into an apartment together in San Francisco, with Xander resuming his career in construction.
Xander's most notable character trait was his sarcastic, flippant attitude and sardonic views on life. He often joked in serious situations or when someone made what was intended to be a dramatic statement which are usually unnecessary. He frequently quipped about school, his family, and his romantic life; in the case of the former two, this appeared to be a cover of his dislike for both. He was scared of failing his friends as well as not making something of himself, as indicated by his dreams when he continually returned to his basement.[3] Additionally, even after he got over his crush on Buffy, Xander continued to show obvious jealousy of Buffy's boyfriends, the only exception being Riley Finn.
Although Xander was often laid back, he could overreact in certain situations and lose his temper. He also had a frequent tendency to quip against his foes with the most ridiculous choice of words, usually finding something insulting but was surprised and angry when he could not think of one. Being overprotective by nature towards his friends, especially Buffy and Willow, Xander was very loyal to friends who he viewed as family. When Willow was kidnapped,[47] a furious Xander told Buffy he would kill her if Willow got hurt; after Spike attempted to rape Buffy, Xander remained openly hostile and distrustful of him even after learning that he had regained his soul, certain for some time that Spike would attempt to do so again at the first opportunity. He would speak his mind on issues involving his friends and was always willing to stand by and fight for them when necessary. Despite not being supernatural, Xander became more brave and courageous and was quite useful. Another notable trait of Xander, unlike his best friend Willow, was his tendency to hold grudges and usually took him time to forgive, especially murderers.
Xander immediately took the black and white view of "vampires are bad", which could very likely be attributed to the death of his longtime friend Jesse McNally. This view also carried over to "good vampires" like Angel and Spike, both of whom he openly detested; however, he was capable of putting his dislike of them aside and working with them when the situation called for it.
"They'll never know how tough it is, Dawnie. To be the one who isn't chosen; to live so near the spotlight and never step in it. But I know. I see more than anybody realizes, 'cause nobody's watching me."
Xander demonstrates that even an "average" person can make a difference and save the world. He never developed any permanent superpowers of his own, but gained much experience from battling by Buffy's side. As Buffy explains to the Watchers Council, Xander had "clocked more field time" than all other Watchers combined.[48] His gifts of persuasion and empathy were often his most useful assets. For example, Xander saved the world from Dark Willow, using only his words.[35] He also recognized that Buffy and Riley were "imploding" and forced Buffy to accept responsibility for the failed relationship.[49]
Due to the Halloween curse, Xander gained knowledge of a soldier, that helped Buffy in several missions.
While possessed by a demonic "hyena" spirit,[11] Xander exhibited enhanced strength almost equal to a Slayer, and heightened senses, as well as predatory instincts, a taste for fresh, raw meat, and a lack of social inhibitions. He lost all of these capabilities when the spirit was exorcised; while he retained his memories of this experience, he kept it secret from everyone except Giles.
Xander was briefly transformed into a soldier on Halloween, and thereby acquired knowledge of military training, tactics, codes, and weapons handling techniques, enabling him to steal and use a rocket launcher to destroy the Judge,[6] and later to organize and lead a group defense against Mayor Wilkins after his Ascension to Olvikan was completed.[26] These skills slowly decayed by his own admission,[50] and he was later unable to decipher Riley's military hand-signs while on patrol.[51] While he also demonstrated knowledge of the First's hypnotic control over Spike,[52] he claimed this was just from seeing military films and not from his "army days".
Xander was once hit by a bolt from the Ferula Gemina which split his personality into two different beings.[8] One Xander possessed Xander's more aggressive traits, such as his courage and confidence, easily getting a promotion and a large apartment, in addition to some of Xander's impetuous qualities and impatience. The other Xander possessed his more passive traits, including his sense of humor and fun, in addition to being highly insecure and paranoid, believing his double to be a demon who was hypnotizing his friends and trying to steal his life.[53] However, both Xanders were both fiercely protective of Anya. Shortly before Willow fused them back together, they showed the same quirks, causing Giles to proclaim him "a bad influence on himself."
Xander wes something of an expert on pop culture; he read X-Men comics[54] and referenced both the Human Torch and Nick Fury. Xander displayed the ability to read Klingon.[33] He often demonstrates pop culture knowledge rivaling that of Andrew Wells.
Xander became a skilled carpenter, gaining practical job experience from repairing damage caused by various conflicts involving the Scooby Gang (most notably the windows at Buffy's house; Xander complained he was doomed to replace their windows for all eternity) and as a foreman of a construction crew.[8] Spike mockingly referred to Xander as "a glorified bricklayer."[55]
Both Xander and evil priest Caleb noted that Xander was "the one that sees everything", including his friends' flaws and strengths, more clearly than anyone else simply because no one was looking at him. Dawn suggested this may be his super power. This human (non-supernatural) strength - his insight, empathy, and understanding - was what prompted Caleb to take Xander's eye, also knowing it would incite Buffy's wrath. Xander also showed he was a skilled archer: he impaled Caleb's hand with an arrow from a distance.
Xander used his military knowledge to lead a paramilitary group of Slayers, witches and seers based in a Scottish castle, viewed from outside as an international "terrorist" organization. The organization which he and Buffy headed employed high-tech and magical weaponry. Xander oversaw and orchestrated the efforts of Willow, Dawn, Buffy, and his Slayers through cameras and earpieces. He again displayed a broad knowledge of warfare and military operations by instructing the Slayers in the use of various modern weapons and basic strategy.[45]
A recurring joke about Xander was that he was a "demon magnet," as many of the women he had dated or been attracted to had turned out to be demonic or in some other way supernatural.
Willow Rosenberg — After a brief romantic involvement in elementary school, Xander and Willow were best friends for years. Xander shared a moment of tenderness with Willow during the boring summer of 1997, which was ended by Buffy's return. Xander and Willow began a secret romance while he was dating Cordelia and she was dating Oz. This ended when Cordelia and Oz rescued Xander and Willow, who had been kidnapped by Spike, and discovered them kissing. However, at some level, Xander retains deep feelings for Willow - these feelings are what he reaches out to in order to turn Dark Willow from her path of destroying the world, simply by refusing to leave as she commands him and bringing up all the incidents in their life they had shared and the friendship between them.
Buffy Summers — Seeing her on her first day at Sunnydale High caused Xander to crash into a railing, literally falling head over heels. Buffy, however, saw Xander only as a friend, and over time, they became surrogate siblings. Buffy dreamed of them being in a relationship, a dream in which Buffy attempted a more than platonic kiss (which resulted in Xander's still talking head popping off his shoulders), and it is implied that they have slept in the same bed.[56] Later, Buffy realizes that she did develop romantic feelings for Xander and tells him this. However, Xander declines her feelings, stating that her words might of made a difference a couple years ago, and he believes that her feelings for him come from her loneliness and her need for stability. Xander also reveals that he is in love with Dawn now. Buffy, though upset and regretful, understands and accepts his rejection, not wanting to take Xander away from her sister.
Miss Natalie French — The real teacher was born in 1907 and taught for a few decades. Her name was stolen by a demonic she-mantis whose pheromones attracted many of Sunnydale's males. She drugged Xander's drink at her house and intended to mate with him before beheading him. Buffy managed to stop her and save Xander in time.
"Ampata" — The Incan mummy girl, impersonating an exchange student named Ampata, wanted to live the normal life she had given up in order to save her people. She fell for Xander, as he was the first male she'd ever met who didn't treat her as a princess, but as a person. However, her relationship with Xander was short-lived; she attempted to kiss him (and thus drain him of his life in order to continue her own), when he offered himself to her to stop her from draining and killing Buffy and Willow. In the end, however, she collapsed as the life forces left her, and did not drain any of them.
Every woman in Sunnydale — When Amy Madison performed a magic spell to make Cordelia fall madly in love with Xander just so he could break up with her and hurt her, it backfired and made every woman (vampire Drusilla included) in Sunnydaleexcept Cordelia fall in love with the "irresistible" Xander Harris; as a result, Xander was nearly killed by a veritable army of demented women who were resolved to kill Xander if they couldn't have him for themselves.
Cordelia Chase — Cordelia and Xander met as children and were antagonistic from the beginning, making their romantic relationship in high school all the more bewildering. However, Vamp Xander from the Wishverse, did admit and describe Cordelia as a 'old crush'. They faced several obstacles, including peer pressure from Cordelia's clique (she was ostracized from her social circle), Cordelia's self-involved and insensitive manner, and Xander's unresolved attraction to Willow, Buffy, and Faith. When Cordelia discovered Xander and Willow kissing in the basement of an abandoned factory (where they were being held prisoner), she ended their relationship for good. After their breakup, Cordelia became more openly hostile and resented Xander more for a time, since she was hurt by him and Xander went back to his sarcastic remarks after trying unsuccessfully to get back with her. Willow once asked why he could never leave her alone without insulting her, and Xander replied, "I can't help myself. It's part of my nature." Willow responded, "Then you better find a different nature. They eventually settled into a hesitant friendship (for example, Xander bought her a prom dress after he discovered that her family had lost its wealth). After graduation, their lives took different paths; he remained in Sunnydale and fought evil with Buffy, and she moved to Los Angeles to become an actress[57] and later to "help the helpless" with Angel.
Faith Lehane — Some weeks after his relationship with Cordelia dissolved, Xander found himself helping Faith fight a demon one night.[25] After the battle, an adrenaline-fueled Faith took Xander back to her apartment and had sex with him; this was Xander's first sexual encounter. Weeks later, after Faith had gone rogue and killed a man, Xander confronted her about her actions, mistakenly believing that they had a connection. Faith started to rape Xander and then to strangle him before being hit in the head with a baseball bat by Angel. Faith mentions that she never wanted a relationship like Xander thought that she did, and was merely with him for the sex. When some Potential Slayers complained about Anya mentioning her sex-life with Xander, Faith said that whenever she hears Anya talking about sex, she reminds Anya that she was Xander's first, which makes her shut up.
Anya Jenkins — Xander's most long-term relationship, despite such problems as Anya's total disregard for normal social conventions such as not talking about sex in public. Despite this, however, the two fell deeply in love, Xander telling her that he fell for her because he treated her like something he never felt like before -- a man. The two came very close to getting married, and retained strong feelings for each other. The two officially remained broken up, but once Xander lost his eye, Anya began to care for him more. The two became swept up in the moment when overhearing Willow and Kennedy, and Principal Wood and Faith, respectively, having sex. Before going into the final battle, Anya and Xander wished each other luck. Anya fought alongside Andrew, but she was killed by a Bringer. As the school was crumbling, Xander frantically called out Anya's name, but didn't notice her body lying on the floor. When Xander asked Andrew what happened to Anya, he was told that she died protecting Andrew, to which Xander replies "That's my girl. Always doing the stupid thing."
Nancy — After being frustrated with his own relationship problems with Anya and others in the past, Xander luckily runs into Nancy and, along with the gang, protects her from a giant worm-like demon that was specifically attacking her. Xander walked her home, and, both new at dating, they awkwardly asked each other out. However, after finding out the demon was Nancy's ex-boyfriend who was turned into the worm-like creature by Xander's own ex-fiancée, Anya, the two never date.
Lissa — Approximately a year after his breakup with Anya, Xander took another dip in the dating pool, and impulsively asked out Lissa, a beautiful woman he met at a hardware store. Their date went well until Lissa tied Xander to a torture wheel, revealed herself to be a demon, and cheerfully prepared to use Xander as a human sacrifice. Xander, before being rescued, pondered what caused him to keep getting involved with female demons and that there has to be a reason. This event frustrated him so much to the point that he even tried(unsuccessfully) to convince Willow to 'turn him gay' or 'gay him up'.
Renee — Renee was a young Slayer who had a crush on Xander. Directly before the attack by Amy's army of the undead, she and another Slayer were talking about Renee's feelings for him, which she denied. Later, she and Xander joked with each other and he comforted her about feeling like she was doing a poor job as a Slayer. The pair traveled together to Dracula's castle and then to Japan to help Buffy get The Scythe back. Before they departed for The Scythe rescue mission, they shared a kiss and she asked Xander on a date. During the mission, however, Renee was killed by Toru, leader of the Tokyo vampires. After the mission, Xander spread her ashes on a Japanese garden.
Dawn Summers - During her childhood, Dawn had a crush on Xander, which he was aware of but did not return. Dawn would later become infatuated with Spike and R.J. Brooks, eliciting mild jealousy from Xander. For the most part, Xander and Dawn's relationship was more like that of an older brother and younger sister. Xander became Dawn's only confidante throughout her many shapeshifting episodes. Following the retreat of the Slayer Organization to Tibet, Buffy found Xander and Dawn sharing a kiss. Xander told Buffy that he had truly fallen in love with Dawn. However, he admitted it was "not unweird, knowing her since she was little," but he also claimed she had grown as a person. After the Twilight crisis, Xander moved with Dawn into an apartment in San Francisco and they were officially together a couple.
Daniel Osbourne — Xander at first distrusted Oz when he started dating Willow as he talked about him while making out with Cordelia. Xander eventually got over his jealousy of Oz's relationship with Willow and the two became friends, though Oz did punch him once when Xander upset Willow by rejecting her advances while she was under a love spell. After Willow cheated on Oz with Xander, Oz never expressed any hostility to him as with Willow and the two quickly sustained mutual respect, both of them once discussing the types of kryptonite from the Superman comics. When reuniting in college, the two desisted from hugging as they both agreed they both were "too manly", instead shaking hands which they later did when Oz returned. Long after, Xander admitted that he missed Oz as he felt the current scooby gang had too many girls and only Oz would've gotten his joke.
Riley Finn — Unlike Buffy's previous long-term boyfriend, Xander showed no jealously to Riley despite his previous crush on Buffy. Xander once remarked "can I have sex with Riley, too?" while he and Buffy intercepted the Intiative. Like Oz, the Xander and Riley bonded over the fact they were the only two males in Buffy's circle of friends (excluding Giles and Spike). Riley helped Xander move boxes when he moved out and even admitted to him that he knew Buffy didn't love him. When Riley left, Xander didn't seem to miss him but was bothered by the fact he never gave Riley a crescent wench to borrow. When Riley returned, Xander was happy to see him and the two hugged as Riley left once more.
Angel — Xander was jealous of Buffy's love for Angel while Angel was in turn jealous of him. When first seeing him, Xander gained an immediate contempt and was suspicious because Buffy never told him that Angel was "buff" as Xander thought he was "a very attractive man [Angel]" in a jealous spite. When Buffy's was on the line, Xander hesitantly joined forces with Angel to save her and the two eventually worked together to fight vampires, despite this Xander did confirm that he saw Angel not as a person, but only as another vampire.[14]Xander faces Angelus when he comes to visit Buffy
As time went on, his attitude towards Angel softened somewhat and he leaped to the vampire's defense when Kendra suggested killing him, saying "Angel's our friend! Except I don't like him," (What's My Line, Part Two), in addition to actually expressing concern about him when he goes missing and seeming relieved when he reappears.[6] After Angel lost his soul and became Angelus, Xander supported killing him rather than restoring his soul. When Willow attempted to restore Angel's soul, Xander deliberately did not tell Buffy in hopes that she will kill him. He was ostensibly angry about the death of Jenny Calendar, though it is unclear how much he was motivated by her death and how much by jealousy. Later on, after Angel leaves for Los Angeles and Xander overcomes his crush on Buffy, their old rivalry seems largely forgotten though they never truly become friends. Xander later told Riley Finn that he still hated the "guts part" of Angel.
Spike— On two occasions, Spike became Xander's roommate, which he was very unhappy about. He greatly distrusted Spike, initially accusing him of taking his voice and later attacking Anya in Hush. He was especially suspicious of Spike after his attempted rape of Buffy, even after Spike regains his soul. He also resented Spike for having sex with Anya even though he was broken up with her at Xander tries to kill Spike after the death of Buffy.
the time. However, in "Intervention", Xander felt some sympathy for him after he was badly injured by Glory and loses the Buffybot, and in "Him", the two work together effectively because of a shared concern for Dawn's well-being.
Larry Blaisdell — Larry was originally a jock who bullied Xander. However, their relationship changed when due to a humorous misunderstanding in Phases, Larry admited to being gay, mistakenly believing Xander to be a fellow closeted homosexual. After this, Larry became friendlier towards Xander and, after coming out of the closet, offered Xander the moral support he supposedly needs.
Xander's name was chosen due to its similarity to the fish species zander, as zanders look very similar to pikes, Pike being Buffy's sidekick in the non-canon film.
Along with Buffy, Willow, Giles and Angel, he is one of only five characters to appear in both the pilot and series finale of Buffy: "Welcome to the Hellmouth" and "Chosen".
Xander appear in a total of 143 episodes of the Buffyverse, all of which also featured Buffy and Willow. The only characters to appear in more episodes are Angel (167), Willow (147) and Buffy (146).
Xander was the only original main character on Buffy the Vampire Slayer who never appeared nor was mentioned on Angel.
↑ In the DVD commentary for the episode "Dirty Girls", writer Drew Goddard mentions there was talk of killing off Xander towards the end of Season 7 and having The First Evil assume Xander's appearance when conversing with Buffy for the remainder of the season. This was ultimately decided against since Xander was thought to be too important to the series, and that his death occurring so late in the season would leave little time to deal with it correctly, and that throughout the series' run, Xander was the one character who never wavered, and to punish that characteristic with death would send a message the staff wasn't trying to get across. Instead of killing Xander, he was blinded in one eye.
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Alexander Harris at the Internet Movie Database
