The question should really be “Who’s the second-best Buffy Big-Bad, since all good and righteous people know that Glory is the correct answer”
One note: It’s not “What’s the best season?” (I might argue S3 or S4), it’s only about who was the best/most/fun/most effective Big Bad? The one you’d like to see come back if they ever do a “Buffy Reunion” thing.
Just to remind everyone:
S1: The Master-Ugly Ass vampire who read the Villian’s Handbook and decided to do everything wrong anyway. He was kind of awesome in that he gloated over fallen enemies, used elaborate death-traps, etc.
S2: Angelus: Angel gone stupid and evil. Like the Master with no panache or impulse control. (For example, he killed Miss Calander, rather than vamping her which would have been much worse)
S3: The Mayor: "All I want is to be a big snake. Is that so wrong?
S4: Adam the silly-looking man-child demon/robot/clone
S5: Glory. What more need be said? She kicked Buffy’s ass and almost won, PLUS she looked great in a bubble bath.
S6a: The Terrible Trio–The three nerds
S6b: Dark Willow (I’ve never figured out which was the actual big-bad)
S7-The First Evi (which I never really got.
So–big bad only, season quality notwithstanding, who do you vote for?
You make a strong case for Glory, but the Mayor was just so damn fun as a villain.
The First Evil has to be the worst. I remember all the other big bads, but I don’t even remember what the First Evil was supposed to be or look like or whatever. I just remember the “EVERYBODY SLAY NOW” spell they cast, and a couple of rando cast members getting offed, and the end.
Definitely the Mayor. I was just thinking about him today During his ascension in the middle of making a commencement speech, he’s like “I had a whole section here about civic responsibility, but I’m going to jump to the big finish.” He had such fun with it.
Definitely the Mayor. Especially when Faith came into the picture, as we see that he is capable of actual paternal love. He made such a good foil for Giles.
My problem with all of the other Big Bads is my problem with Big Bads in general…I don’t get their motivation. Like, Glory was a god. What more did she need? To go home? Why? She was the most powerful being on Earth, with all the stylish boots she could ever wear. The Master was ancient and powerful in his world; did he really want a suntan that badly? Wilkins…Wilkins was human. He was a sorcerer, and he wanted immortality, so became a demon. I grok that. And he remained human, through his love for Faith. She was his greatest strength, and his only weakness. It was just damn good storytelling.
Angelus is a close second, of course. So many feels. His metaphor (if you can even call it that) was the best, as that guy you sleep with who turns out to be a total asshole. His arc was the easiest for me to relate to, having my own personal Angelus is my past. But again, his goal was pretty fuzzy to me. Not the torturing Buffy and Giles part, that part made sense. But WTF was his goal with Acathla? To have the world sucked into a hell dimension? Why on earth would he want to do that, and lose all his Happy Meals with legs? So while I loved Angelus as a character, I thought his arc as Big Bad suffered in the end from a bad case of We’ve Got To Resolve This Plotline Somehow.
Glory was slowly dying and going insane from being trapped in human form. Also she wanted to get revenge on the pair of hellgods who banished her to Earth. And you know, to be an actual god again.
The Master just wanted vampires to rule, instead of hiding in the shadows. A patriot of sorts. You got a diminished taste of his ambitions in “The Wish.” (The one where Anya makes it so that Buffy never came to Sunnydale.)
ETA: I think Angelus was just a nihilist. You don’t see other vampires trying to destroy the world they live in. Dru was brainwashed and insane.
But, while the Mayor did have style, no question, so did Glory. The bit where Willow teleports Glory 11 miles up and Glory’s response is “Oh Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii…”? Or the bubble-bath thing?
John DiFool: Best as in “If there were a reunion season and one BigBad comes back, who’d you want in a rematch for fun AND drama?”
The Master had a sort of style too. <TREMENDOUS EARTHQUAKE> Master “So, what’d you say? 7? 7.5?” Not “Mayor” level style, but style. Plus there’s the whole “Do the reverse of whatever the Evil Overlord’s List says, just for the LULZ” thing. Casually killing henchmen for giving him accurate but unhappy info, using deathtraps rather than just killing people? That’s style. Stupid, but style.
KneadtoKnow: “Almost” won because Glory didn’t actually take over the hell-dimension.
The Mayor, absolutely. Best character, writing, motivation and mannerisms from the actor.
It’s not so much that the mayor had ‘style’ - he didn’t really - but he was clearly a person. He ran the gamut from OCD clean to evil to fatherly and so forth. He might well be the most well-rounded non-protagonist in the whole show.
I always liked Adam as he was portrayed as a powerhouse that was pretty much unstoppable. At the time, he was the strongest big bad yet and it took the three main characters to all pool their powers to take him down.
Glory was the toughest later on and the Mayor was the most fun and amusing to watch, though, I agree.
I also liked Dark Willow, but mostly as a “you don’t see it coming”, “surprise” big bad.
The Mayor. Season 2 with Angelus was probably the best arc, but I found the Mayor much more interesting.
I don’t think Glory almost won anymore than any other big bad. Yeah, Buffy died, but killing the Slayer wasn’t part of her plan. Actually, she may have been the only Big Bad who’s plan wasn’t (in some form at least) to kill Buffy.
Technically speaking, the Mayor and the Master fulfilled their plans. They were just killed very soon after doing so.
