All were terrifying and brilliant to watch (Picture: Rex/Shutterstock)

From blood-thirsty vampires to robot wannabe stepdads, via a child-killer with terrifying teeth and a swim team turning into giant fish, Buffy The Vampire Slayer had all manner of monsters – demonic and human alike.

Some threatened horrific violence, others preyed on the weak, and others still took great pleasure in handing out cruel psychological and physical torment.

All were brilliant to watch.

After all, it’s not like we would have sat through seven seasons of the show if the only bad guys Sarah Michelle Gellar’s Buffy had to contend with were easily disposed of with Mr Pointy.


*contains spoilers*



Here are the very best (and most terrifying) demons from the much-loved show:

Cheerleader mum

In Witch, an episode from series 1, a wannabe cheerleader got a little too desperate to make the team as she injured all those who blocked her path to cheerleading glory.

When the Scooby gang investigated, they discovered that the girl was actually the girl’s mother, who used witchcraft to swap bodies with her teenage daughter.

This witch will let nothing stop her – not even her daughter.

Not the best parenting role model.

Mayor Richard Wilkins III

Talk about abusing your power. All smiles for the camera, this sinister foe from series three was a very difficult one for Buffy to defeat.

He was harder to get to – with his mayor persona offering plenty of security and standing in the community – and his creepy, upbeat demeanour was always followed with a little something that reminded you just how evil he was.

He wanted all the power. He wanted to eat all the students. He wanted utter destruction. And he came pretty close to getting it.

Of course, he also ate that tediously annoying principal, so he wasn’t all bad.

Faith

The devil-may-care attitude Faith brought with her when she first appeared in series two made for a refreshing change.

Up until this point, we’ve seen Buffy being pretty rebellious and not following the rules. So when slayer Faith arrived, we realised just how agreeable our Buffy has actually been up to now.

When Faith turned and joined the dark side, she had already learned so much about Buffy that she could use this insider knowledge to torture her in really cruel and intimate ways – which only made the betrayal that much harder to take.

Angelus

A cursed vampire forced into a life of good, Angel became a firm ally to Buffy and her friends in series one.

But when happiness with Buffy in series two removed the curse and turned him back to his formerly evil self, the cruelty that he then unleashed knew no bounds.

Rather than just go on a killing spree, Angelus took great pleasure in tormenting his victims and toying with Buffy and her friends, sending sinister notes, leaving drawings of them sleeping, watching them from a distance and killing the people they love.



The Gentlemen

Hush is one of those episodes that is so popular with fans that people immediately know what you’re talking about if you reference it. That is largely due to the terrifying demons referred to as ‘The Gentlemen’.

They showed up in this masterpiece of an episode, stole the voices from the residents of Sunnydale, and proceeded to rip out their hearts.

The Gentlemen were silent but deadly and utterly chilling to watch. (It’s perhaps no surprise to discover that the brilliant Doug Jones played one of them.)

They levitated a few inches from the ground and have a maniacal grin permanently fixed on their faces.

Most sinister of all though, was that when they attacked you, nobody will hear you scream.

Glory

What demon am I facing, Buffy asked, when she first encountered Glory.

But Glory was not a demon. She’s a god.

Glory was as hilarious and off-the-wall as she was completely terrifying. Her strength appeared limitless and Buffy knew she was no match for her.

Yet it’s her ability to suck the life force out of a person using only her fingers that made Glory so terrifying. It’s a horrific act that left her victims mentally lost and babbling incoherently.

And when it happened to Tara, it’s utterly heartbreaking.

Dark Willow

Willow was Buffy’s trusted friend from the very beginning of the show. And when her magical exploits started to get out of hand, it’s only Willow’s girlfriend Tara who seemed to notice just how dangerous it’s all becoming.


She left and Willow eventually saw the danger and gave up magic altogether.

So when Tara was killed later in series six, having just got back together with Willow, the magic returned with a vengeance and Dark Willow was born, fuelled by grief and rage.

The terror was never more shocking than when she finally caught up with Tara’s killer, Warren.

Gnarl

When Gnarl showed up at the beginning of series 7, there’s a lot going on for the Scooby gang: Willow had just returned to Sunnydale and was somehow unable to see her friends, just as they weren’t able to see her.

Gnarl was one of the more gruesome Buffy villains as he had a venom in his fingers that paralysed his victims but kept them wide awake. He then made them watch, unable to move, as he took tiny chunks out of their stomach and ate them like strands of spaghetti.

Which was what happened when Willow got trapped underground with this creepy new creature, believing that her friends had abandoned her.

Caleb

When Nathan Fillion’s Caleb first appears in Buffy, viewers believed him to be a hero.

A potential slayer was on the run and he happened to drive by just as she was in need of rescue. He’s dressed like a priest, too, so there’s a brief moment where you breathed a sigh of relief.

This being Buffy so, of course, the relief was short-lived. He called the girl vile names and then told her to pass a message to Buffy – before stabbing her and throwing her out of the car.


We later see that Caleb’s strength – thanks to his alliance with The First – was so strong that he could render our slayer unconscious with just one hit.

However, it’s his utter hatred for all girls that really gets under your skin. Caleb firmly believed that girls were sinners and unclean and they must be punished – by him.

And of course he insisted on doling out this punishment with chilling calm, a powerful right hook and an ‘Amen’.

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