Switching chracter appearances

[Chasing Cordy]

What would the show be like if connected characters were switched in their initial appearances? Personalities stay the same, but the characters are switched...

Kennedy first...then Tara at the end (Oz never shows up)
Faith first...then Kendra at the end.
Spike (with Dru) first...then comes Angel.

[Allycat]

If Angel hadn't been in Sunnydale already, Spike & Dru would've needed no reason to stay there after they'd gotten the DuLac Cross. Suppose he came in around that time, I don't think Buffy would've been as adamant on protecting him. If they'd started dating much later, I think she would've had less of a problem killing him in Becoming. If she even would've dated him at all. With Dru around, she might never really have trusted him.

I'm thinking if Faith had been called in Season 2, she would've stayed in Sunnydale for the entire 2nd season. Dru would probably still have killed her though, as I suspect Faith would not have been able to resist the hypnosis either. Kendra would probably never have gone to Sunnydale in Season 3, but she probably would've in Season 7. In Season 8, she might still be around either in Scotland or leading her own squad somewhere else.

If Kennedy had come around during the second season in Oz' place, she would've been way too young for Willow to date and since she didn't know she was gay yet, I don't think it would've mattered. If she'd come into the series during the fourth season instead of Tara, I'm not sure Willow would've fallen for her. I don't think at that point in her life, Willow would've been able to appreciate Kennedy as a person. So, again, I don't think that much would change, except that Willow would probably not have realised she was gay yet. Unless Kennedy actively pursued the relationship, in which case, she might have started to wonder. I think in this scenario, Willow would have found someone else to date during the fifth and sixth season. Either one steady relationship or a series of shorter ones. Whether the death of a different love would've sent her over the edge in the Season 6 finale is something I don't dare to speculate on. That also means, she might not have gone to England and might not have learned as much magic, which means, she might not have been able to pull the Slayer-spell off in Chosen. Of all the suggested changes, I think this one could potentially make the biggest difference.

[Hello Cutie]

Well the main thing I'm thinking is no Spuffy.. but equally, it means more Sprusilla... its a toughie.

Also, I think that Spike and Dru might have stayed after they had the DuLac cross, because Spike has the thing where he loves killing slayers... he's self-diagnosed as obsessed with them. So he'd probably stay around in order to kill Buffy... so either he'd be there as the big bad throughout all the seasons, or Spike would have died as the big bad at the end of season 2, which is the morwe likely consequence- and I would not have been happy with that... 'because it's wrong'. [Sorry, I felt the need to quote that for some reason.]