On Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) has to navigate a lot of complex relationships as the slayer. It’s hard enough being a teenaged girl without having the weight of saving the world on your shoulders and living on the Hellmouth. Surrounded by witches, werewolves, vampires, and watchers, Buffy is supposed to be the chosen one. But a loophole brings Faith (Eliza Dushku) into the picture, and it turns out when it comes to slayers, more isn’t necessarily merrier.
Buffy and Faith become foes instead of friends, and it’s only when the apocalypse is nigh that they’re finally able to put their incredibly messed up past behind them and agree the world is only big enough for one slayer, but they’ll make it work. Here are the 5 worst things Faith did to Buffy, and the 5 worst Buffy did to Faith.
Buffy: Doesn’t Welcome Faith To Sunnydale With Open Arms
When new slayer in town, Faith, lands in Sunnydale footloose and watcher free, most of the Scooby Gang rolls out the welcome mat. Head Slayer In Charge (HSIC) Buffy is more hesitant to embrace wild child Faith. It wasn’t like at first sight between Buffy and Faith’s predecessor Kendra (Bianca Lawson) either, but she made Buffy seem like the one who needed to find the fun.
To be fair, Kendra came to Sunnydale specifically to help Buffy deal with some big brewin’ evil while Faith brought an ancient nastiness with her in the form of a vampire with cloven hooves. These two are oil and water from the jump, and while Faith is considered the bad seed, it’s Buffy’s unwillingness to play nice and share that leads to much bigger problems later on.
Faith: Tries To Pin A Murder On Buffy
Buffy and Faith finally do some serious bonding when they go on a bad girl bender, but their good times come to a screeching halt when Faith accidentally stakes the deputy mayor. Buffy does her best to cover for Faith, but the Lady Macbeth inside of her won’t keep quiet, so Buffy runs to Giles (Anthony Head). Too bad Faith gets their first and has a very different version of the story.
Faith isn’t entirely without remorse… at first. Regret gives way to self-preservation. Faith hasn’t reached her full evil potential, but killing an innocent man and lying about it are Faith’s gateway crimes, and she’s just getting started. Goody two-shoes Buffy can get old, but maybe if she’d been so concerned about Faith a bit earlier, the rogue slayer wouldn’t have falsely accused her of murder.
Faith: Attempts To Seduce Angel
As Faith turns more and more towards the dark side, she breaks girl code hoping to give Angel (David Boreanaz) that one true moment of happiness that will make Angel lose his soul.
If Faith hadn’t come so late to the party she’d know Angelus doesn’t take orders from anyone. It’s unclear who’s more deluded, Faith or the Mayor (Harry Groener), believing it would be so easy for Faith to turn Angel. Buffy and Faith aren’t chummy before this lopsided love triangle, and this move by Faith draws a definitive line in the sand.
Buffy: Throws The First Punch
Throughout season 3, Faith encourages Buffy to tap into her inner bad girl, and it’s all fun and games until Faith commits murder. Faith’s on the first cargo ship out of town, but even if’s obvious Faith and Buffy are built too differently to be besties, Buffy doesn’t want Faith sailing off into the sunset.
Faith brings up some sensitive subjects (good Angel, bad Angel), and Buffy snaps, punching Faith in the face. It’s not the first time the two have come to blows, but this isn’t about Buffy trying to save her boyfriend, it’s about letting Faith get the better of her. This is only the beginning when it comes to Buffy throwing the first punch when dealing with Faith, so maybe Faith’s right about Buffy’s dark half after all.
Faith: Poisons Angel
To distract Buffy while the Mayor prepares for his ascension, Faith shoots a poison arrow into Angel – just shy of his heart. This could have been a one and done kill, but Faith is happy to make Angel suffer and Buffy along with him.
It feels like Faith is getting payback for Angel rejecting her, and Faith knows watching Angel die a long, slow death will torture Buffy, so it’s both a win-win and a point of no return for the Mayor’s best girl.
Buffy: Fights Over Angel
A new, evil watcher, Gwendolyn Post (Serena Scott Thomas), arrives in Sunnydale to destroy some demon-y glove but uses Angel and all the distrust brewing amongst the Scooby Gang to her advantage.
Faith isn’t any different from Kendra who also wanted to kill Angel. Nobody trusts Angel with a “magic mitten,” and with Gwendolyn nurturing Faith’s insecurities, the slayer is inevitably pitted against slayer over a guy. When Buffy is forced to choose between her demon boyfriend and the new slayer in town, Faith comes in a distant second. Buffy’s overall behavior is pretty sketchy, but she continues to shut out Faith who already has a mountain of trust issues. Their fledgling friendship takes a hit and never recovers.
Faith: Holds Joyce Hostage
Eight months after Buffy tries to kill her, Faith wakes up to find the world very much as she left it. Faith’s lengthy time out does nothing to improve her attitude, and she’s determined to exact vengeance on Buffy. Entirely unaware of Faith’s past misdeeds, Joyce (Kristine Sutherland) is the only person happy to see and gets punched and tied up as a thank you for her hospitality.
It’s hard to know what Faith’s plans are for Buffy’s mom, but given Faith’s daughterly affection for the Mayor, it’s safe to assume it wouldn’t be anything less than an eye for an eye.
Buffy: Unleashes A Verbal Throwdown
Fans figure something must be amiss when Angel loses his soul, teams up with Faith and agrees to be the Mayor’s lapdog. Of course, it turns out to be a scheme to get Faith to spill all of the Mayor’s secrets about the impending ascension. Tricking Faith isn’t the bad part, it’s when Buffy finally confirms her dislike of Faith goes pretty deep.
Buffy is tied up, but her tongue is free to give Faith a brutal lashing, and she pushes every one of Faith’s buttons. Proclaiming she’s better than Faith and calling the slayer a loser who has to use magic to get a man is uncharacteristically cruel for Buffy although not entirely undeserved.
Faith: Steals Buffy’s Body
The Mayor doesn’t become a demon and lay waste to Sunnydale, but he did leave behind a present for Faith: a mystical trinket that enables her to switch bodies with Buffy. The timing couldn’t be better since Faith is wanted both by the Council and the police.
Disguised as Buffy, Faith displays some rather loathsome and homophobic behavior towards Willow (Alyson Hannigan) and Tara (Amber Benson), but her biggest offense is sleeping with Buffy’s boyfriend, Riley (Marc Blucas). Not even saving a church full of hostages makes up for that one. In an unexpected twist, this bad deed does go punished when Faith begins to realize how awful a person she is in comparison to Buffy and begins to regret all her awfulness.
Buffy: Puts Faith Into A Coma
Buffy will do anything for Angel, so when she learns he needs to drink slayer blood to be cured of poison, she knows exactly where to go – Faith. It is a bit hypocritical of Buffy to all of a sudden decide it’s okay to kill a person when she’s been saying how wrong it is all along.
Even though Faith is a serial killer, she hasn’t racked up a body count equal to Angel’s. Buffy’s given Faith plenty of hard passes, but Buffy doesn’t hesitate to sink to Faith’s level when it suits her needs.
