Buffy The Vampire Slayer: 10 Ways Anya Got Worse And Worse

Anya Jenkins was a late addition to the Buffy The Vampire Slayer scene, but she became a pivotal member of the main cast. She started off life on the show as a one time antagonist, before being brought back in a recurring capacity. Eventually, Anya made the leap to series regular.

Anya was a great character, whose lack of understanding of the human condition led to some seriously funny moments in the show. Her relationship with Xander Harris was also adorable, but unfortunately, there were some aspects about Anya that simply got worse and worse as the supernatural drama went on.

10 Her Selfishness

Anya used to be a vengeance demon before Giles broke her amulet and she became human once more. As a result, she struggled with the complexities of normal life and it’s fair to say that Anya was more than a little socially awkward, especially regarding her behavior.

While a lot of Anya’s personality was played for laughs, it did also make her slightly annoying at times. Anya had no filter and she could be incredibly selfish sometimes. Anya did evolve into a wonderful and kind woman, but she still maintained a narcissistic personality.

9 Her Friendship With Willow

During Anya’s first season as a series regular, she and Willow didn’t exactly get along. Willow though Anya would hurt Xander due to her history of doling vengeance upon all men, and Anya worried that Willow would try and steal Xander from her.

Thankfully, both women managed to settle their differences, but after being wary of each other for so long, it was odd that they were suddenly such good friends. Anya even remarked that she’d help stop Dark Willow in Season 6, but she was only doing it for Willow.

8 Lusting After Xander

Before becoming human, Anya was a vengeance demon who went by the name Anyanka. Her specialty was dealing out vengeance on behalf of women scorned, which meant that she punished unfaithful men. In fact, in the beginning, she despised all men.

However, when she became a student at Sunnydale High, Anya started to become infatuated with Xander. While their relationship was adorable, it went against everything Anya had stood for up to this point. She certainly shouldn’t have been pestering Xander to go out with her again.

7 Her Turn To The Good Side

In Anya’s first appearance on Buffy The Vampire Slayer, she was an out and out antagonist. With Cordelia’s (unwitting) participation, Anya created a reality where Buffy Summers had never come to Sunnydale, and the Master had gotten out of his lair and menaced the population of the town.

When the spell failed, Anya became human, but her evil ways didn’t stop there, as she teamed up with vampire Willow. Weirdly, though, in the next season, she was part of the Scooby Gang. Her switch to the good side just seemed totally out of character and came out of nowhere.

6 Her Friendship With Kali

By the time Kali appeared on the show, Anya was a fully established member of the Scooby Gang and had helped save the world a few times. What was even more impressive was that she had started dating Xander, and the two were engaged to be married.

When Kali made her debut, it was surprising to hear that she and Anya were still friends, as Kali was also a vengeance demon who helped abused children by hurting others. Being good means you try and distance yourself from murderers, and Anya had been doing so well up until that point.

5 It Never Felt As Though Anya Belonged With The Scooby Gang

Although Anya was a main part of Buffy The Vampire Slayer for four seasons, she always felt like a bit of an outsider. Sure, she dated Xander, and during that time, she helped Buffy defeat the monster of the week, but it never really felt like she was there of her own accord.

In Season 6, Anya and Xander were due to be wed but thanks to Xander developing some major pre-wedding nerves, Anya was left at the altar. After that, Anya left the Scooby Gang and Willow, Buffy and Xander didn’t exactly work too hard to get her back.

4 She Didn’t Get A Good Send-Off

Although Season 7 of Buffy was its last televised season, some characters got better endings than others. Buffy defeated the First Evil, Faith redeemed herself for her past actions, and Willow became a magic goddess. Even Spike had a fitting ending.

Anya had been an ally of the Scooby Gang for years by this point and she was an integral part of the group. What’s more, she remained popular with the fans. For Anya to get killed in battle and for no one to grieve her properly, it was a disservice to the character.

3 Her Role In Season 7

In Season 7, a lot of the main cast had more reduced roles, apart from Buffy herself. The first half of the season went down as normal, featuring a different monster every week. However, when Giles started bringing the Potential Slayers to Sunnydale, the dynamic changed.

Suddenly, every episode was about the Potentials, and so screen time had to be shared between a lot more characters. This affected some characters worse than others, for example, Anya didn’t really have much to do during this season and so she felt underused for the majority of episodes.

2 Hooking Up With Xander

Anya has always been a brilliant character, not in the least because she wasn’t afraid to stand up for herself and say what she thought. She also wasn’t too fussed on men, meaning that she didn’t feel the need to spend her time doting on one man after another.

However, that seemingly all changed when she met and dated Xander. After he left her on the wedding day, Anya took a sabbatical from the Scooby Gang. When she returned to the fold, it wasn’t long before she hooked up with Xander again, completely altering her views and stance on men.

1 She Didn’t Like Buffy

Since Anya was an antagonist when she and Buffy first met, they didn’t particularly take to each other at first. However, over time, Anya started to help the Scooby Gang more and more. Therefore, it stood to reason that she and Buffy would begin to get along.

While they never actively showed that they disliked each other on the show, Buffy and Anya were never really properly friends. They never hung out, they never shared their feelings with each other, and they tried to kill each other on occasion.

About The Author