Buffy the Vampire Slayer has no shortage of dangerous demons and volatile vampires who present a real threat to the Slayer and her Scooby Gang across the show’s seven seasons. The same goes for its spinoff, Angel. On the other hand, given the fact that these two series combine to make up 254 episodes of television, there are a number of villains-of-the-week who were defeated far more easily than they really should have been.
Often, one of the Scoobies or Angel Investigations’ enemies presented real potential, or struck a cord with fans, but they nonetheless proved to be a one-and-done wonder who never turned up again. That’s despite the show doing such a good job of depicting the villain as someone who means business and can keep our demon-hunting heroes on their toes. While the Buffyverse’s Big Bads had time to face the Slayer and friends again and again, these single-appearance antagonists were wiped off the board way too quickly.
7
Penn Is Angel’s Former Protégé-Turned-Serial-Killer
Angel Season 1
When it comes to Buffyverse guest stars who went on to become world-famous, Pedro Pascal’s minor role in Buffy Season 4 is often discussed by fans. However, most seem to forget that future Avenger Jeremy Renner similarly appears in Angel Season 1 as a fascinating character who deserved to last a lot longer than his single episode appearance.
Renner plays Penn, Angelus’s former protégé. Whereas Angel regained his soul in 1898, however, Penn continued on his evil path, using all the tricks his mentor taught him to undertake various serial killing sprees in different US cities across the 20th century. By the early 2000s, he had reappeared in Los Angeles and started killing again, earning himself the nickname “The Pope” from the press, due to his habit of carving the sign of the cross into his victim’s cheeks.
Penn could have been a brilliant recurring antagonist for Angel as an enemy of his own creation and a reminder of his past sins. Considering that Angelus taught Penn everything he knew, the character really should have been smart and capable enough to evade Angel for more than one episode. As it is, Season 1’s “Somnambulist” remains his only Buffyverse appearance. At least Renner himself went on to make a bigger impact on pop culture.
6
Der Kinderstod Is a Terrifying Demon Taken Out Too Soon
Buffy Season 2
Although he only appeared in a single episode of Buffy, Der Kinderstod is one of the most frightening demons the Slayer ever faced. A monstrous figure in a dark suit and hat who stalks the halls of hospitals, Der Kinderstod feeds on the life-force of sick children, who are also the only people who can see him. Buffy herself witnessed him kill her cousin, Celia, when they were sick with the flu as a child.
Exactly how long-lived Der Kinderstod is remains unclear, but given that his name translates to “the child death,” there is the suggestion that he is an age-old entity who has been preying on sick children for centuries. The fact that he remains unseen to adults and his victims simply appear to have died from their illnesses means he has wandered the Earth unchallenged all this time. Until he encountered Buffy, of course.
Season 2’s “Killed By Death” sees Der Kinderstod killed pretty abruptly. Buffy’s plan to give herself the flu so that she can see him is ingenious, but their ensuing confrontation is over swifter than expected when Buffy snaps his neck. For a villain with such a chilling concept and potentially ancient origins, he really should’ve proven to be a tougher opponent for a sick Slayer.
5
Dracula Had So Much Comeback Potential
Buffy Season 5
Buffy introduced the one and only Dracula into its mythos in Season 5’s opening episode, “Buffy vs. Dracula,” and considering the series lasted another two seasons afterward, it’s surprising the Count never made a return trip to Sunnydale. Especially as he is one of the few foes in the series that Buffy is incapable of killing.
Buffy did a good job of revisiting several elements of the character from the original Bram Stoker novel that are usually forgotten in screen adaptations, including his ability to transform into mist, which makes him impossible to stake. Within Buffyverse lore, this was explained as Drac having some mastery of magic, which makes him one of the strongest vampires Buffy faced.
Buffy does banish Dracula from her hometown by the episode’s end, but he’s not exactly a character known for doing as he’s told, so it’s unclear why he stayed away — especially as it’s suggested he’s attracted to Buffy. Though the show itself dropped the ball on Dracula, at least he features in a big way in the continuation comic book series from Dark Horse Comics.
4
Sunday Should Have Stuck Around Season 4 For Longer
Buffy Season 4
Just like Dracula, Sunday is another vampire who made a single Buffyverse appearance in a season opener but really shouldn’t have been written out so quickly. Introduced in Season 4’s “The Freshman,” Sunday is the leader of a vampire gang who feed on students at UC Sunnydale and make it look like their victims have simply dropped out and gone back home.
In terms of power levels, Sunday should really be small-fry for the Slayer. However, Buffy is seriously off her game at the beginning of Season 4, due to the end of her relationship with Angel and her struggle to adjust to post-high school life. Because of this, Sunday actually beats Buffy with ease in their first confrontation, a rare feat for a vamp-of-the-week.
While Buffy comes out victorious by the episode’s end, considering how things went between them the first time, it would have made sense for Sunday to avoid the business end of Buffy’s stake for a few more episodes at least. In fact, many fans would probably take her as the season’s Big Bad over Adam, considering that she’s certainly much more entertaining to watch. If only she hadn’t broken Buffy’s Class Protector Award and gotten her angry. Rookie move, Sunday.
3
Billy Blim’s Horrifying Powers Make Him Angel’s Darkest Foe
Angel Season 3
Billy Blim is another Angel villain who shouldn’t have been killed off so quickly, as he has truly terrifying potential. Billy is a unique Buffyverse villain as he’s not dangerous because of the awful things he does, but because of the awful things he makes other people do. In Angel Season 3’s “That Vision-Thing,” Angel is forced to do something for Wolfram & Hart to save Cordelia’s life — he has to break one of their clients out of an interdimensional prison. In “Billy,” we learn who, and what, this client is. Though he appears to be ordinary and unthreatening, Billy’s half-demon nature means he can bring out a violent, misogynistic rage in any man he touches.
He ended up in his prison in the first place after he caused a loving husband to beat his wife to death. As he chillingly puts it, “I have never hurt a woman in my life. I just like to watch.” Only Angel is immune to his powers, although it is W&H’s Lilah Morgan who kills him when she realizes that he was too dangerous to use as an asset. Despite never getting his hands dirty himself, Billy is easily one of the most evil individuals in the Buffyverse. He could have been a truly sinister foe for Team Angel if he had survived the episode, but it’s probably for the best that he didn’t.
2
Sweet Could Have Been a Threat On Par With Glory
Buffy Season 6
Although not named on-screen, the villain of Buffy’s legendary musical episode, “Once More, With Feeling,” is officially named Sweet. While generally considered a lighter-hearted installment of the show, Sweet is actually one of the most powerful demons in the Buffyverse, as he is able to warp reality and control an entire town into singing and dancing out their feelings. And don’t forget that his victims ultimately dance themselves to death.
He may not seem it, but Sweet is actually comparable to Glory in power levels, as he is also the ruler of his own hell dimension and appears to be immortal. He also references giving “Nero his very first fiddle,” which implies that he has been burning cities and towns, like Ancient Rome and Sunnydale, to the ground throughout human history.
Much like Dracula, in fact, Sweet is another rare villain-of-the-week that Buffy fails to kill as he simply returns to his dimension of his own volition when his contract is complete. Considering how much fun Sweet clearly had unleashing his spell on Sunnydale, and the joy he took in causing the Scoobies so much emotional turmoil, it’s surprising he never returned to Sunnydale to cause more musical mayhem.
1
The Gentlemen Might Not Be as Defeated as They Seem
Buffy Season 4
Buffy one-off villains don’t come more iconic than the Gentlemen. The antagonists of Season 4’s “Hush” — AKA the silent episode — are demonic creatures that are so old they have entered into folklore. Unlike Sweet, the Gentlemen were not summoned to Sunnydale; they simply move from town to town to harvest human hearts. Their one weakness is the sound of a human (or, at least, female) scream, which is why they use magic to take away the local community’s voices while they go hunting.
What’s interesting, and terrifying, about the Gentlemen is that they appear to be a race rather than a group of individuals. Buffy succeeds in breaking their spell and screaming at them until their heads explode, but this same thing was also done by a princess in medieval Europe (according to a fairytale Giles finds). Therefore, there must be more Gentlemen out there beyond the six that came to Sunnydale.
The lack of concrete intel about the Gentlemen is what makes them so effective and unsettling to the audience, but it’s curious that the Scooby Gang don’t attempt to find out more about them. Buffy defeated the half-dozen that were in her neck of the woods, but presumably there are many more groups of the grinning ghouls still at large. Maybe the Initiative should’ve focused on hunting down all the Gentlemen instead of sinking their resources into creating Adam.
- Release Date
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1997 – 2003-00-00
- Network
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The WB
- Showrunner
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Joss Whedon
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Sarah Michelle Gellar
Buffy Summers
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Nicholas Brendon
Alexander Harris
I’m Abhishek Sharma, an author at TigerJek.com. I enjoy exploring games, testing different strategies, and turning what I learn into clear, useful guides. My goal is to help players understand the game better and improve without the usual confusion.
