Old School Vs. New Breed

[littlewilly]

was just wondering what everyone think as to who you prefer.
Cordy, Oz, Angel(old school) or Anya, Tara, Spike.(new breed)

id say new should win. At first i didnt really like tara but by the end i thought she was a very good character and although its close, shes better that oz.

Spike and Angel is another close one but although angel had possibly the most gripping story on btvs(Angelus s2) overall spike was much more interesting and entertaining.

Anya and Cordy is the easiest choice by far. Anya wins hands down, easy.
Cordy WAS ok. But Anya brought so much more, and was, with spike and lorne, the funniest buffyverse character.

What do you think?? old or new.
me say 3-0 to new

[white avenger]

I'm not sure whether you're referring to the two groups as love interests for the three major characters, as better fighters, more interesting/valuable assets to the team, or as something else. As a group, I would have to pick Tara, Anya, and Spike as the best assets to the team, but as a love interest for Xander, I would prefer Cordy.

[littlewilly]

im just meaning whos best over all, story, love, humour, just how much you like the characters.
but i think anya was a better girlfriend.

[VisionGuy]

I prefer the new breed. Although I liked Cordelia a lot more than I did Anya. Anya was annoying a lot of the time. But I guess that was her point.

[Cangel]

hmmm....I like two from the new and two from the old breed...interestingly enough, it's the Willow people I never really liked (maybe because I don't like Willow that Much either), but the other ones (Cordy, Angel, Anya, Spike) I all love (as you can see in my profile, they are ALL listed as fave characters) so this choice is kinda hard to make. Probably old breed then because Angel is hotter and Cordy is my favourite character form both shows.

But now, this looking at this old breed new breed comparision is quite interesting. It's funny how everyone new replaced one of the old breed not only in dating interest, but also in characteric traits. Like Cordy used to be the one who said everything, without really thinking, and later Anya took that part. And Angel was the vampire with the soul, with new breed vampire Spike who had at least the chip, later even also a soul. And Tara and Oz, both the quiet ones of the group.
Even if we look at what they were...Angel and Spike both vampires, Cordy and Anya both originally human, but at some point of their lives became at least part demon, and Tara and Oz both looking like ordinary people, but with Oz' transformation and Tara being a wicca (and kind of also being told she was part demon)

Am I the only one who sees these parallels (which would make crazy probably, lol, and paranoid) or do you guys agree?

[littlewilly]

i agree completely, i have never thought about it in such depth but what you say is true and interesting. writers possibley done it on purpose

[Dancing man]

Old breed not even a contest.

[Keanoite]

I'm all about the old school. My first, second and third favourite ships are all old school i.e. Bangel, Cander and Woz. I enjoyed the first 3 seasons more than the last four. I was more invested in the storylines, my favourite eps are all in the 1-3 seasons. Personally I thought was consistently better in seasons 1 through 3.

[littlewilly]

the first 3 seem to have a unique atmoshpere about them, i like 4 best though.
2 is 2nd best but really, they are all v. close.

[palabravampiress]

I liked the second group better, largely because Angel and Cordy were so important to AtS. I felt like we got to explore their characters more on AtS than we would have done on Buffy, so I liked them better on AtS. Angel on Buffy was a sort of boring, mopey love interest. On Angel, he really got to shine. We got to see more and different facets of his character. So, to me, Old School Angel is the inferior Angel. Does that make sense? The same is true of Cordy. As for Oz, well, he just sort of bored me.

The new group fit much better on Buffy, I think, because they helped to make the line between good and evil increasingly blurry and gray. Powerful witch or no, Tara was the sweetest soul you'd ever seen -- a far cry from Amy and her mom and, later, even Willow. Anya was better than Queen C. Cordy because Anya was newly human, not just a spoiled brat. Watching her come to terms with her humanity was beautiful. She didn't lose that, even after she became a demon again, and that ultimately led to her rejecting her demon status and dying as a hero in the final battle. Spike did the same thing. He wasn't good with a soul/ bad without it. He was more complex, and so was the issue of how to treat a chipped vampire. As Buffy progressed, the show became all about examining these ambiguities, and so I think the new group was a better fit than the old group, whose characters were more flat and more static.

Mind you, I'm not saying that the old group wouldn't have matured and evolved just as fantastically had they remained. Obviously, two of them did so on AtS. I'm just saying that because they went to their own show, they didn't do that on Buffy, so I can't choose them as my favorite group of Buffy characters.

If I had to be honest, though, I still think I'd choose the second group even if I was including their development on AtS just because love, love, love Anya, I hate the way they ended Cordy's development, Angel drove me batty by making decisions for everyone else all the time, Tara made me smile, and Oz seemed, to me, utterly forgettable. So as a whole, I probably like the second group better even if I do include their development on AtS.

[littlewilly]

Soooo, you like new breed?? about all the points you made Palabra, i agree on all of them. well put.
Angel was far better on Ats. cordy was an average character throughout btvs/Ats.
But Angel as Angel on buffy wasnt that good. But as Angelus on buffy, he was part of the best individual story on both btvs and Ats(turning to angelus,s2)

[Flawless Faith]

Definitely old school. The first 3 seasons were gold and those happen to be the years with Cordy, Oz and Angel. Though I do like Anya better than Cordy for Xander and Tara better for Willow. But overall, old school wins.

[Atren]

Hmm, i kinda like both schools. If i had to choose i would go for new school i guess. Tara and Oz are rather equal for me. By end of S5 i considerably ranked Spike above Angel (Spike was 2nd to Anya then) and while i liked Spike considerably less over next 2 seasons he clearly stayed above Angel still. Angel on Buffy was so darn limited, he was already at the end point of his character kinda when show started if you get what i mean. Of course i do have to admit since i do not have first 2 seasons i only have my near 10 year old memories to go on.

Since Anya is my favorite char in entire Buffy universe i guess it is rather natural that i prefer her to Cordelia. Altough difference was not that big actually as Cordelia was one of my favorites in both shows. Interesting side fact is that Cordelia was the only character i liked on both shows (Wes and Angel were not really my favorites on Buffy, but i love them on Angel).

[Tranquillity]

New Breed for me - I like the later seasons better. That being said, I love Cordy from start to finish but i liked her better on Angel. Same goes for Angel too.

[InsaneMystic]

Angel and Spike. While I enjoy Angel in his own show, I didn't miss him in Sunnydale at all (I'm pretty much anti-Bangel... while I recently notice on rewatching that my Bangel hate comes all from S3, it is DIEHARD HARDCORE in that season. :biggrin:). I like Spike much more than Angel - more humor, more badass coolness, and more dynamic in the "souled vampire" arc
=> Oldies 0, Newbies 1

Oz and Tara. That's hard. I really like Oz, just not with Willow (out of jealousy, no rational reason for that at all, I admit). But I wouldn't EVER want to imagine the show without Tillow. So that's
=> Oldies 0.5, Newbies 1

Cordy and Anya. Hard one too. I'm one of the few who never really warmed up to Anya (while not hating her, mind you, I reserve that emotion for Joyce :hehe: - but she's the char towards whom I'm indifferent enough to be able to imagine the show without her without serious problem). I did miss Cordy the first half season or so of S4, but I liked her better in AtS. So this turns out to be
=> Oldies 0.5, Newbies 0

Thus in the end, even though I'll always like the highschool seasons better, in direct comparison new school wins 2:1 in my book.

[~angelic slayer~]

Okay, here it goes...

Angel and Spike. Okay, so Spike I have to say is hands down New Breed. I loved his as an evil vamp, but especially in Ats Season 5 I simply adore the ensouled but still his "old self" Spike. He's a funny jerk of a character but at the same time is just so caring, I really respect him. Angel on the other hand, I'm really torn about him. I much prefered his soulful, caring, mooshy gooshy attitude in Sunnydale (and he was cutely protective, like in Grad. Day p2 when he nearly takes off the Mayor's head!), but on the flip side I think he had a lot more depth to his character in the later seasons. So I'm saying New Breed as well, but keep in mind that if he were with Buffy in s6 there would be no comparison ;)
=>Oldies 0, Newbies 1

Oz and Tara. Tara I'd have to say New Breed, just because of how much her character matured over the few years we knew her. She was there for everyone but finally learned how to stand on her own two feet, which was so great to watch. Oz I'm actually voting Old School. I really liked him in the early days, especially seasons 2 and 3 when he was the dutiful boyfriend, sidekick guy, etc.. I liked seeing more to his character in season 4, but I really didn't like how that character ended up. Especially when he came back to town, wasn't hugely impressed.
So => Oldies 1, Newbies 1

Cordelia and Anya. Cordy I really didn't like mid-angel, but I really liked her one and only appearance in Ats Season 5. I also was a big fan of her in Btvs Season 3, so I really have to give this one 50/50. I like both sides of her, but it's the "in between" stages that aggravate me. And Anya definitely New Breed, she was great in Season 6 and FINALLY showed huge growth in Season 7's "Selfless", so kudos, she gets Newbie :)
=> Oldies 0.5, Newbies 1.5





EDIT
---sorry, just realised I did this entire thing wrong! :silly:, so that's for your viewing pleasure (I thought you meant do we like them better when they first came on the show or later! oh dear...



Anyway, character-wise I'd say Spike, even though I much prefer the Buffy/Angel relationship. He was funny, caring, and very entertaining to watch. Angel got kind of "blah" after a while, I thought.

Tara wins over Oz hands down, I liked Oz but I just had that much more respect for Tara. She showed a lot more growth over the series and I thought was always more a part of the gang. This one was really tough though, they're close.

And I'd actually say Cordy over Anya, I really liked them both but in the end I grew to appreciate Cordelia's character much more than Anya's. Anya I thought got almost whiney in the later seasons (again, although I LOVED her in "Selfless"), but Cordy really turned into a character I liked. So I have to give this one to her

So my final score is Oldies 1, Newbies 2

Guess I'm more for the new crowd in both respects! It really is hard to choose though!




end embarrassingly blonde moment ::blush::

[Starlet]

Angel or Spike- of course Spike. Very interesting character with great lines, awesome in humorous scenes as well as in dramatic ones.
Angel is ok but he doesn't even come close to Spike.

Oz or Tara- although I really liked Oz I say Tara because I just loved her character and I could relate to her in many ways.

Cordy or Anya- in Buffy Cordy was ok for me but only in Angel I started to really like her character. Anya was character I loved almost since the first time she appeared on the screen and she's one of my faves so the choice wasn't hard.

So new breed wins:biggrin: