Xander - Did he have a character arc?

[MarieVampSlayer]

Hi all!

I know a lot of you have mixed feelings about Xander but I want all of us to put that aside and consider him as an important member of the core four.

I feel like Xander was missing any character's arc after season 4. We had him adjust to life after high school and becoming a carpenter but beside his relationship with Anya he didn't have anything to evolve into. Do you think that Xander should have more character development in the last 3 seasons? Do you think his character's humour was toned down so that Anya or Spike could shine?

Also, if you could change his character's story what would you add or remove (for me it's the wedding storyline)?

MarieVampSlayer

 

[PaulParmar1]

I couldn't/still can't stand him haha but your right besides "boyfriend to Anya" and the odd Xander centric episode he didn't have a lot going on anyway.
Especially at the start of Season 4.
He seemed to be cut out of the whole show.

 

[Bop]

I'd scrap the whole relationship with Anya, it made Xander a hypocrite and it made him useless. All he was from seasons 4-6 was Anya's partner, he was used to show how she was learning to become human again- it didn't help that I didn't care about that arc for Anya. Xander would have his moments, like in Grave and Potential where he would show that he's not useless, but other than that I think he was only kept around because they'd never kill off one of the core four- their bond was the foundation of Buffy's life.

 

[Puppet]

I definitely think he has an arc. His might be harder to see because it never revolved around gaining supernatural abilities or having existing ones, like everyone else, but it was all about growing up instead. In S4 he was a young man living in his parents basement, going from job to job, and not sure where he stood in his new relationship with Anya, not to mention growing apart from his HS friends.

Then comes S5, where he gets a real job, moves into his own place, starts to truly fall in love with Anya, and grows back together with his friends. Culminating in The Gift where he 'picks up a spare' and helps Buffy in the final battle.

The following year, same as the other characters, this maturity and growth faces a set back due to his own insecurities and trauma from a complicated childhood. But when it comes right down to it, he's still there for his friends when they need him; including talking Willow out of ending the world in Grave, something only he can do, something he's brave enough to do.

Finally (because I don't know the comics very well) we have S7 and the best Xander of them all, imo, and the culmination of his very impressive arc. He has forged an even tighter bond than before with Buffy and Dawn over the summer, witnessed easily by just watching them together in the first several episodes. He spends the rest of the season clearly being one of the most mature characters on screen, and I don't just mean his speech to Dawn in Potential, a favorite of mine. S7 is littered with great Xander moments where you see clearly how far he's come since the HS years.

 

[thrasherpix]

Hmmm...Xander is supposed to be the "heart" of Buffy. Wouldn't it have been interesting to kill him off as Buffy is going all cold?

And I'm suddenly wondering if there's a connection or "entanglement" going on with Xander being a "demon magnet" and Buffy seeming to be attracted to vampires (and Riley while he was artificially souped up, but as his abilities fizzled, so did Buffy's passion for him, just as all the other normal guys Buffy dated didn't seem to be that intense, unless you want to count Parker, who may have had some sort of magical talisman helping him along).

Still, he was needed for contrary ideas, and I'm glad he lasted. I didn't care for him as Anya's boyfriend. Though as many think Anya was too good for him, I'll add that from my perspective Anya was more of a woman-child in the relationship than Xander was a man-child, and I think the relationship brought out a side in both of them that I didn't care for. (And how I'd love to be spared Hell's Bells...) I'd have instead liked it if he got some specialized training from Giles, in part as Giles preparing him to help Buffy after he leaves, which makes perfect sense to me to start in season 4 (which, of course, he'd mess up as he started out, particularly in season 6 when Giles isn't around to bail him out).

 

[buffy1990]

I definitely think he has an arc. His might be harder to see because it never revolved around gaining supernatural abilities or having existing ones, like everyone else, but it was all about growing up instead. In S4 he was a young man living in his parents basement, going from job to job, and not sure where he stood in his new relationship with Anya, not to mention growing apart from his HS friends.

Then comes S5, where he gets a real job, moves into his own place, starts to truly fall in love with Anya, and grows back together with his friends. Culminating in The Gift where he 'picks up a spare' and helps Buffy in the final battle.

The following year, same as the other characters, this maturity and growth faces a set back due to his own insecurities and trauma from a complicated childhood. But when it comes right down to it, he's still there for his friends when they need him; including talking Willow out of ending the world in Grave, something only he can do, something he's brave enough to do.

Finally (because I don't know the comics very well) we have S7 and the best Xander of them all, imo, and the culmination of his very impressive arc. He has forged an even tighter bond than before with Buffy and Dawn over the summer, witnessed easily by just watching them together in the first several episodes. He spends the rest of the season clearly being one of the most mature characters on screen, and I don't just mean his speech to Dawn in Potential, a favorite of mine. S7 is littered with great Xander moments where you see clearly how far he's come since the HS years.

I agree completely with this. Xander's arc was present in a very real-life way. And while, compared to some of the other characters we see, his may seem boring, his arc is really the most easy to relate to!

 

[sosa lola]

Xander's arc parallels Buffy's, but in a subtle kind of way. His arc is about a boy drawn to gender norms and desperately trying to fit into society's expectations of a man. However, through a string of disappointments and hard lessons, he realizes his role is that of a supporter and not the hot shot guy. He's not a typical alpha manly man, he was never one and now he came to terms with it. Buffy is his hero and idol, Willow is his powerful witchy best friend, and he has the power to save the world through communication instead of violence (The Zeppo and Grave), a role usually given to a female character. Xander grows to know and accept his limits (shown clearly in S7 and the comic seasons) and instead of trying to prove he's as badass as his other powerful friends, he uses his strengths he has and applies them to saving the world.

Xander has a wonderful character arc, but sadly it wasn't in your face the way other characters' arcs were.

I have talked about Xander's arc and how it parallels Buffy's before. Check it out on Tumblr.
 

I'd have instead liked it if he got some specialized training from Giles, in part as Giles preparing him to help Buffy after he leaves, which makes perfect sense to me to start in season 4 (which, of course, he'd mess up as he started out, particularly in season 6 when Giles isn't around to bail him out).

That would have been so awesome to see! I would have loved if they had gone to this direction.

 

[MarieVampSlayer]

I agree completely with this. Xander's arc was present in a very real-life way. And while, compared to some of the other characters we see, his may seem boring, his arc is really the most easy to relate to!

I do feel that his story should have been more obvious. As a core four I think him and Giles got a bit left out compared to Anya and Spike and I wish that wasn't the case. For me Xander has some of the best centric episode in the earlier seasons (The Zeppo, Bewitched, bothered and bewilded) and I think he deserved more exposure in the later seasons. Maybe we could have seen him adjust to living alone without Anya or anything showing in him regular life apart from the others.

 

[buffy1990]

I do feel that his story should have been more obvious. As a core four I think him and Giles got a bit left out compared to Anya and Spike and I wish that wasn't the case. For me Xander has some of the best centric episode in the earlier seasons (The Zeppo, Bewitched, bothered and bewilded) and I think he deserved more exposure in the later seasons. Maybe we could have seen him adjust to living alone without Anya or anything showing in him regular life apart from the others.

I can agree that it would have been nice to see him center around a few more episodes, but I do think the ones he is featured in in later seasons continue to progress his character's development. For example, the Replacement in S5 highlights his insecurities and also his ability to be the mature adult that he wants to be, which is what we ultimately see from him in S7.

 

[AlphaFoxtrot]

I would like to see an scene in the comics where Saint Cordelia appears to him in a vision and calls him "The Yamcha." No, he didn't really have an Arc. But to be fair, he was only about 22 when the series ended. Goofy kid works trade, shacks up with his girlfriend and becomes a foreman of a construction company are standard issue life goals at that point.

 

[margybee]

I think his arc was definitely more subtle than the others in the show, but it is there. In high school he's goofy, awkward, unsure of himself, and not confident at all.

We see some forward momentum in season 3 when he buys Cordelia's dress and is more accepting of Buffy and Angel (although he never warms up to Angel, I think he does eventually see how helpful he can be).

Season four we see him floundering, sort of the same way we see Giles floundering. Both feel inferior and self-conscious about not having a steady job, and it looks like the two of them actually spend quite a lot of time together.

I think season 5 is where he really starts to find his groove. He rises up in the construction job, gains some power and influence, buys an apartment for him and Anya -- getting himself out of the basement that represented his unpleasant childhood -- and has to grow up fast with the rest of the Scoobies as Joyce becomes sick and eventually dies.

Season 6 isn't his best, but it isn't anyone's best. Everyone is falling apart -- that's what the season is all about. There's not much going on with him, actually, except his growing fear and worry over his marriage to Anya. He's terrified. He knows he loves her but the concept of "forever" seems scary to him, probably because of his upbringing and seeing his parents and extended family fighting all the time. Maybe he thinks that's what married life is. In any case, he does the unthinkable and leaves Anya at the altar. One of his worst moments, to be sure.

But in season 7, he grows up. He becomes reliable, encouraging, understanding, supportive, just all in all a strong guy. He helps Dawn, of course, but we see him do so much more than just repair windows. He's there for the gang, helping in whatever way he can.

I'm not a Xander fan for most of the series, but I like season 7 Xander. He's a different guy, completely, from the high school years. There's no question in my mind that he has a real arc -- it might not be perfect, and there are some dips and bumps along the way, but he changes significantly, and for the better.