Buffy The Vampire Slayer: 10 Reasons The Scooby Gang Aren’t Real Friends

The Scooby Gang was a vital mainstay throughout all seven amazing seasons of Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Before Buffy, all Slayers had gone at it alone, believing that they alone could defeat the forces of darkness. However, Buffy was never really one for following the rules, and so the Scooby Gang was born.

The core members were Buffy, Willow, and Xander, but others came and left with each season. For the purposes of this article, though, we will be including all members. The Scoobies were famous for their close bond, and loyalty to the Chosen One, but were they really all such good friends?

10 They Were Kind Of Exclusive

This first entry may seem odd, but the best thing about all great friendships, real and fiction, is that they have the capacity to expand their friendship group, to befriend others and make them feel welcome.

Buffy, Xander, and Willow were the original Scoobies and so they are the people most commonly associated with the group. And, of course, others have joined the Scooby Gang over time, such as Cordelia, Oz, and even Spike. However, unless one has a personal connection to one of the original members, it’s hard to find a way in. For example, Faith was a Slayer, and she still felt left out as she was excluded from meetings.

9 They Were Victims Of Circumstance

Arguably, one could say this about any strong, long lasting friendship but in the Scooby Gang’s case, it seems especially relevant. As stated previously, Buffy, Willow and Xander are the best of friends but their bond has definitely been strengthened as a result of living on the Hellmouth.

When Buffy arrived at Sunnydale, she was quickly on track to becoming one of the popular girls. However, she ditched Cordelia’s posse for Xander and Willow. Due to Buffy constantly saving their lives, it’s possible that Xander and Willow’s friendship with Buffy stemmed from a subconscious desire for protection.

8 They All Fell In Love With Each Other

One of the biggest destroyers of friendships (most notably in television shows) is that one, or sometimes both, participants end up developing The Feelings for the other. Sometimes, this works brilliantly; in Friends, Monica and Chandler ended up becoming an incredibly popular couple.

However, more commonly, falling in love ruins friendships. When Willow and Xander developed feelings for each other, it almost ruined their prospective relationships, and also the adorable bond between the two. Likewise, when Buffy rejected Xander, it put a strain on their blossoming friendship.

7 There Is A Clear Hierarchy Within The Group

All of the best friendship groups are supposed to be equal, with each individual person bringing something unique to the friendship. No one is supposed to be better or more superior to anyone else. Unfortunately, that’s where the Scooby Gang failed, as Buffy was quite clearly the leader and the strongest link.

While Buffy was a good person and tried her best to do the right thing, living with a pre-determined destiny was always going to be difficult. In Seasons 4 and 7, Buffy used the fact that she was the Chosen One to get her way with the Scooby Gang, despite the majority taking offense at her words.

6 Giles Was A Staff Member At Sunnydale High

Yes, Giles is also an important member of the Scooby Gang. He served as a main character for the first five seasons of Buffy before recurring in Seasons 6 and 7. Giles was always there when the rest of the Scoobies needed support or advice and he often served as a father figure to many of the gang.

Despite how much everyone loved Giles, it’s also important to note that he was a member of the teaching faculty at Sunnydale High, where Buffy, Xander, Willow, and many others attended. The fact that he hung out a lot of the time with a bunch of teenagers, who were under his care, looks incredibly dodgy.

5 Cordelia Hated The Scoobies (& Vice Versa)

In Buffy‘s first season, Cordelia served as the obligatory, stereotypical high school mean girl. She was pretty, popular, incredibly rich and she loved making everyone else feel like trash. She was the perfect non-evil antagonist for the Scooby Gang, especially Xander and Willow, who even started a club in revenge.

However, when Xander and Cordy began to develop feelings for each other, the situation changed. Cordelia’s social standing became less secure and she began to spend more time with the Scooby Gang. However, she still made sure that they knew that she saw herself as above them all.

4 Spike Also Hated The Scooby Gang

When Spike was first introduced in Season 2, he was so evil he actually served as one of the Big Bads of that season. Spike then played the role of secondary antagonist when he returned full time in Season 4, making his future, gradual acceptance into the Scooby Gang look even more unusual.

However, in Season 5, Spike fell in love with the Slayer and so as a result, he began to help out the Scoobies a lot more in a futile effort to win favor with Buffy. Eventually, though, he began to succeed, and Buffy lowered her defenses. Spike still hated the majority of the Scoobies, even after his reluctant inclusion.

3 Some Members Were Only There Because Of Their Romantic Attachments

The bond between the Scooby Gang was a strong one, to be fair. It had to be, as being part of the Scoobies meant that your life was quite often in danger, and so you had to rely on one another in order to avoid being killed. However, there were some bonds that were a little bit more breakable.

Several members of the Scooby Gang were really only part of the group because of their significant other. It started with Cordelia, who only helped out because she was dating Xander at the time. When that relationship ended, Cordelia went right back to being Sunnydale High’s resident mean girl.

2 They All Hurt Each Other

Every friendship has its downsides and all friends hurt each other and fall out, so it’s only logical that the Scoobies went through some angst during the seven seasons of Buffy. However, a lot of the members of the Scooby Gang have hurt each other way too much and too hard to ever really be truly forgiven.

Xander and Willow cheated on their other halves with each other, but Oz still remained part of the Scoobies until he left the series. Buffy kept Angel’s resurrection from Giles and the others but Giles forgave her against all odds. And the amount of times that Buffy has treated her friends like trash is unbelievable.

1 Most Of The Scoobies Have Tried To Kill Each Other

With a few exceptions, most of the Scoobies have, at one point or another, attempted to kill one or more members of the Scooby Gang. Granted, sometimes they were under a curse or a supernatural charm, but often, they were in full control of their minds and their bodies, which is quite surprising.

Angel is the obvious example, as when he became Angelus, he tried to murder everyone. However, Buffy also tried to kill her friends in the Season 6 episode “Normal Again”. Even Sunnydale’s adorable witch, Willow, went on a massive rampage, killing Warren and then trying to kill Dawn when she tried to help.

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