While Dawn’s place in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” was a bit rocky following her pivotal Season 5 arc, these are decidedly bad choices, partially because of the real-life details that came out in 2022 involving behind-the-scenes allegations of inappropriate behavior on the part of Joss Whedon.

Of particular note is that the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” creator has said many times that Xander is meant to be his avatar in the franchise, sharing his obsession with pop culture and other key aspects of Whedon’s personality, including his sense of humor. This is where it starts to get a bit creepy. According to the show’s stars, the cast and crew had a secret rule in place stating that Whedon was never allowed to be alone with Michelle Trachtenberg. Read into that whatever you will, but considering that “Buffy” creator co-wrote the comics that followed the show, it could be argued that he found a way to circumvent said rule on the page instead.

This kind of general ickiness aside, things get even weirder for the rest of the characters. Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) robs a Swiss bank to start her own Slayer armed forces unit; Willow (Alyson Hannigan) has a secret sexual relationship with a demon and can now fly; and the Big Bad turns out to be Angel, now hiding behind a mask as the villainous Twilight. Oh, also, Spike (James Marsters) has a spaceship, and there’s time travel for some reason. 

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