Buffy The Vampire Slayer: The Big Bads, Ranked By Fighting Ability

The popular ’90s television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer featured some of the most iconic and unforgettable Big Bads on the small screen. As each season showcased a new monster for Buffy and the Scooby Gang to defeat, there was no shortage of shocking displays of supernatural strength and power emitting from the latest villain.

With seven years of slaying everything from a Master vampire to an unruly gang of nerdy humans known as the Trio, Buffy Summers proved that even the most seemingly strong enemy had an Achilles heel.

9 The Trio

Outside of the evil Warren Mears, the other two members (Jonathan Levinson and Andrew Wells) of the supervillain gang the Trio didn’t exactly leave any of the Scooby’s shaking in terror. In terms of fighting skills, the group was quite limited in physical abilities, instead typically choosing to use magic in order to gain the upper hand.

Warren Mears was obviously the biggest threat, and even after the Trio disbanded he still managed to cause chaos turning to modern weapons to shoot both Buffy and Tara, triggering Willow to turn to the dark side.

8 The Mayor

Richard Wilkins certainly wasn’t the germaphobic family man that he presented himself as. Wilkins was the original founder of the town of Sunnydale and as an immortal being, he continuously reinvented himself as his own descendant.

His goal to ascend and become a pure demon that would rule the world may have ultimately failed, but this Big Bad’s defeat hardly came without a lack of effort. Before turning into a demonic creature, Richard Wilkins’ invincibility was definitely his greatest weapon when it came to physical combat.

7 The Master

The original Big Bad of BtVS‘s first season certainly captured the attention of fans. He was originally known as Heinrich Joseph Nest and was highly respected by other members of the undead as an elder vampire. In addition to being the head of the Order of Aurelius, he was also Darla’s sire, meaning fan favorites like Angel, Spike, and Dru are all his descendants.

Due to his advanced age, the Master had enhanced abilities, making his strength and reflexes stronger than that of the average vampire. He also had hypnotic powers which worked in his favor in order to defeat Buffy during their first encounter.

6 Adam

Professor and Initiative member Maggie Walsh considered the Frankstein-like creature Adam (whom she referred to as the 314 project) to be the ultimate creation. Originally a human and member of the Initiative, the deceased Adam was combined with both demon parts and robot parts with the hope of reanimating as a super-soldier.

With no need for food or sleep, Adam was able to keep himself at full strength by feeding off of electrical energy. His left arm was from a polgara demon, which could release a skewer to attack his enemies, while his right arm was later fitted with a minigun and rocket launcher. In terms of physical combat, Adam was easily able to take on Buffy as well as other demons.

5 Dark Willow

Willow Rosenberg’s descent to the dark side finally happened after fans watched her struggle to regain control over her magic use in season 6. With the goal of avenging her murdered girlfriend Tara, Willow went into a grief-induced rage.

After absorbing the dark magic books at The Magic Box she used her powers to flay Warren Mears and consume magic from Rack as well as Giles. In terms of physical strength, she was able to take on Buffy and Willow almost ended the world with her overwhelming, powerful spells.

4 Spike

One of the best characters introduced after season 1, this punk-loving Big Bad was never one to shy away from a fight, even after he switched sides and became a white hat. Spike gained supernatural fame for defeating two slayers, making his combat skills legendary.

While he is clearly quite strong, he doesn’t appear to be on the same level as villains like the Hell God Glory nor was he able to lift Olaf’s (the Troll God) hammer (though Buffy was easily able to). Still, his love for a good brawl makes him a notable advisory even if he never did manage to defeat Buffy.

3 Angelus

Buffy’s first love gone evil surprisingly became the second season’s Big Bad after losing his soul to a moment of true happiness. As Angelus, the formerly brooding vampire retained all of the strength and intelligence of his souled self but was significantly more manipulative and sadistic.

Angelus had no fear of taking on the Slayer and was quite skilled in both hand-to-hand combat and sword fighting. Though Buffy was able to eventually defeat him and save the world, Angelus’s evident strength combined with his twisted need for psychological manipulation made him one the smartest and deadliest villains on Buffy.

2 Glory

This all-powerful Hell God was certainly one of the toughest Big Bads the Slayer faced. As a higher being stuck in a mortal’s body the full extent of Glorificus’s powers, (along with her original form) is never revealed.

Despite this limitation, Glory’s strength still surpassed that of vampires and the Slayer. Even when Buffy went head to head with Glory, the Slayer’s physical blows never appeared to inflict any damage. One of Glory’s biggest weaknesses outside of her mortal counterpart Ben was powerful magic such as Willow’s spells and the Dagon Sphere.

1 The First

Despite being the all-powerful entity that is the root of all evil, this Big Bad’s biggest weakness directly affects its ability to engage in hand-to-hand combat. As a ghostly entity, the First could not inflict physical damage as it had no solid form.

Still, its powerful presence meant that it was easily able to find others to do its bidding, and go one on one with the Slayer. In addition to being immortal and incapable of being injured, the First is also a master at manipulation, as seen during its first appearance in season 3 when it tries and almost succeeds in tricking Angel into facing the daylight.

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