First Evil

The First Evil is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The malevolent entity was variously portrayed by Sarah Michelle Gellar, Shane Barach, Edward Edwards, Cornelia Hayes O'Herlithy, Robia LaMorte, Adam Busch, Clare Kramer, George Hertzberg, Harry Groener, Juliet Landau, Mark Metcalf, Azura Skye, Kristine Sutherland, James Marsters, Danny Strong, Amanda Füller, K.D. Aubert, Lalaine, Carrie Southworth, and Nathan Fillion.

Biography

Character history

The First Evil is the source and embodiment of all that is evil. Older than demons, even the Old Ones, who are themselves older than humans, it is older than the written word and trascends all realities or dimensions. It's said the first lurked in the darkness long before the universe was even created and shall remain long after the universe ends. Few have heard of it and fewer believe in its existence.

Much to its dismay, the entity cannot affect the world on a physical level. Its power lies in its ability to deceive, torment and manipulate others. It can take the form of any dead or undead person. Since she had died before, the First Evil often appeared as Buffy in the last season of the series. The First has been hinted to have telepathic powers and knows everyone's darkest secrets. It uses the knowledge to drive others to madness and such acts as murders and suicides.

The First has appeared as an enormous demon with large horns and long, talon-shaped fingers. It's a common misconception, especially in the Buffy video game, Chaos Bleeds. They refer to the first as the "granddaddy of all evil". The First Evil for technical purposes, is not male, female, demon, nor god. It's a power.

The enormous demon form the First Evil sporadically appears as is questionable. This power known as the "First Evil" existed eons before things were given any meaning, form, or name. The true powers this deity possess is exceedingly unknown. It's above and beyond anything reality, or dimensions could comprehend.

During Christmas 1998, The First appeared in Sunnydale. It tried to drive the vampire Angel into killing himself by appearing to him as Daniel, Margaret, Travis and Jenny Calendar, people Angelus had murdered. It told Angel that it was responsible for his return from Hell and that he could end his sufferings by turning evil again. It did not mind when Angel chose to die in a sunrise instead. Buffy was talking Angel into leaving the hilltop when a rare snowfall occurred, with the sun remaining unseen. Sunnydale enjoyed a white Christmas.

In 2002, Buffy's resurrection caused an imbalance in the scales of good and evil, thus tipping in favor of the good side. The First saw the huge gap on the evil side and took advantage of this rare opportunity to raise an army of ancient Turok-Han. It would become corporeal when its army outnumbered humans, which would tip the scales of good and evil. The First Evil had the vicious preacher Caleb command the Harbingers of Death, as they sought and hunted down young girls with the potential to become slayers. Two of the attacks happened in Istanbul, Turkey and Frankfurt, Germany, respectively. The First also saw the Scooby Gang as roadblocks.

It tormented the vampire Spike after he had returned from Africa with his soul. The First appeared to Spike in such guises as Warren Mears, Glorificus, Adam, Mayor Richard Wilkins III, Drusilla, The Master and Buffy. After Spike accidentally stabbed a human, the First appeared in the form of a nice, more forgiving Buffy to continue to taunt him.

The First also appeared to Andrew Wells in Mexico as Warren Mears, instructing him to buy an ancient knife. The nightmares it brought to Andrew and Jonathan Levinson drove them back to Sunnydale.

The First Evil began using a traditional English folk song ("Early One Morning") as a trigger to drive Spike to sire again. It also masqueraded as Joyce Summers to her younger daughter, Dawn, and warned her that in the end, Buffy would not choose her. The First appeared to Willow Rosenberg as Cassie Newton, claiming to be a messenger from her dead lover Tara, but went too far as it asked Willow to commit suicide. It also appeared to troubled nerd Andrew Wells as his dead friend Warren, and drove him into killing their friend Jonathan on the Seal of Danzalthar, right above the Hellmouth. The sacrifice yielded too little blood. The First then sent The Bringers to kill the potential slayer Nora and her watcher Robson in London, England. It also goaded Spike into battling Buffy so one of them would be killed.

The First Evil then appeared to Andrew as both Warren and Jonathan. The First Evil appeared to Spike, as Spike himself, to trick him into killing Andrew, only be foiled by Buffy again. It then sent some Harbingers to kidnap Spike from Buffy's house to bleed him to raise the first Turok-Han out of the Hellmouth. Meanwhile, the First's minion Caleb blew up The Watchers Council as they gathered. Continuing its scheme, The First Evil appeared to Buffy in her dreams as Joyce; it also manifested itself through Willow as she tried to cast a spell.

In 2003, viewers saw the First Evil masquerade as Eve, a potential slayer previously killed by the Harbingers, to spy on Buffy and encourage the potentials to doubt Buffy’s leadership. The First Evil took a break after Buffy decapitated the Turok-Han and freed its hostage Spike.

A few weeks later, The First again appeared to Andrew as Jonathan, instructing him to use a gun to kill the potential slayers but subsequently became angry with Andrew and Buffy's friends when Andrew wore a wire so they could record the First Evil. Continuing to monger fear among the Potential Slayers, the First Evil appeared to Chloe, taunting her to commit suicide before appearing to Buffy and the potentials as Chloe, making them feel partly responsible for Chloe’s death.

The First Evil later summoned its head minion Caleb to Sunnydale where they set up base at The Shadow Valley Vineyards, where Buffy and the potentials were dealt a defeat at Caleb’s hands. Using the Harbingers, the First Evil had them excavate a mystic Scythe from a rock while at the same time tricking slayer Faith Lehane into a trap. Then it masqueraded as Mayor Richard Wilkins III in order to throw Faith off guard, telling her to be wary of Buffy. When Buffy later went to the vineyards and stole the Scythe, The First Evil instructed Caleb to let her go and informed Buffy that Faith and the Potentials had just been killed in an explosion. Buffy rushed to their rescue and most of them survived.

After Buffy split the First's minion Caleb in half with the Scythe, The First Evil taunted her for being alone, which gave her an idea. Buffy asked Willow to use the essence of the Scythe to make every potential slayer a full Slayer and led a proactive strike on the Turok-Han army within the Hellmouth itself. The First taunted Buffy after she was stabbed through the abdomen, but she recovered. An amulet that Spike was wearing created beams of light which wiped out every Turok-Han and destroyed the Hellmouth.

The First is one of the few villains in the series that was never killed off. As an incorporeal entity, the source of all evil cannot be physically harmed. Buffy and Angel make clear that evil is eternal and omnipresent. The foiling of its plans are to it but a minor setback since it "has an eternity to act."

A scrapped plot point for the series finale "Chosen" involved the First taking the form of Joyce Summers (Buffy's mother), and becoming corporeal, thus sparking a final one-on-one battle between Buffy and the First.

Some fans have speculated that The First Evil, while masquerading around Buffy, was also entangled in the adjacent Angel Season 4 Plot. While on Buffy, the First was trying to tip the scales of good and evil, while on Angel, the character Jasmine was attempting to eliminate evil through mind control. Consequently, it would have been in the First's interests to prevent Jasmine's birth, and the appearance of Darla to Connor can be interpreted as such an attempt. Another clue that this appearance of Darla may be due to the First: it appears that Cordelia can also see the 'Darla' apparition, so it is unlikely that Darla is merely the product of Connor's imagination in this instance (however, it could still be a genuine appearance by her disembodied spirit). Speculation also surrounds an appearance by the recently-deceased Lilah in the episode "Salvage", where Wesley is taunted by Lilah in scenes similar to those from "Amends" where the First was tormenting Angel[1].

Appearances

The First Evil has appeared in:

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

• Season 3 (1998, 1999)
  • "Amends" (as Daniel, Margaret, Jenny Calendar and Travis - name revealed in the shooting scripts).
• Season 7 (2002, 2003)
  • "Lessons" (as Warren Mears, Glory, Adam, The Mayor, Drusilla, The Master and Buffy Summers)
  • "Selfless" (as Buffy Summers)
  • "Conversations With Dead People" (as Warren Mears, Cassie Newton, (Joyce Summers?))
  • "Sleeper" (as Buffy Summers and Spike)
  • "Never Leave Me" (as Buffy Summers, Warren Mears and Jonathan Levinson)
  • "Bring On The Night" (as Joyce Summers, Spike and Drusilla)
  • "Showtime" (as Buffy Summers and Eve)
  • "First Date" (as Jonathan Levinson and Nikki Wood)
  • "Get It Done" (as Chloe)
  • "Storyteller" (as Warren Mears)
  • "Dirty Girls" (as Buffy Summers and Betty)
  • "Empty Places" (as Buffy Summers)
  • "Touched" (as Mayor Wilkins and Buffy Summers)
  • "End Of Days" (as Buffy Summers)
  • "Chosen" (as Buffy Summers and Caleb).

See also

• Harbingers of Death
• Satan