Harmony Kendall

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Character
Name: Harmony Kendall
Occupation: personal assistant
Relationships: Cordelia Chase (friend); Spike (boyfriend); Angel (employer); Devon (boyfriend); Marcus Hamilton (lover)
Fandom: Buffyverse
Other: Wikipedia
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Harmony Kendall is a recurring character in the Buffyverse, played by Mercedes McNab.

Canon

Being a vampire sucks.

—Harmony, 'The Harsh Light of Day'

Harmony is a rich & pretty Sunnydale schoolgirl who is turned into a vampire at graduation. Subsequently she tries to be both good & evil, finding she sucks at both. She's Cordy's (ex-)friend & Spike's (ex-)girlfriend, and in S5 of Angel, she works as Angel's personal assistant at the law firm Wolfram & Hart. She survives 'Not Fade Away' and appears in the Buffyverse comics. Mainly used for comic relief, Harmony acts as a mirror for Cordelia without the visions & perhaps for Angel without the soul. Oh, and she adores unicorns.

Fannish Opinion

I barely noticed Harmony Kendall when she was simply one of the Cordettes. My interest in her as a character began with The Harsh Light of Day. As a vampire, Harmony had both pathos and likeability that she hadn’t shown as a human. She had vulnerability. She was no longer an undifferentiated member of the Cordettes; she was an individual character in her own right. She was funny, ditsy, yearning, and she tried. She tried so hard. (Spikendru)[1]

Human Harmony barely registered w/ me on the show, but vamp Harmony is my favorite "recurring" character (on "Buffy," not wild about what they've done with her - or haven't - on this season of "Angel." (Karabair)[2]

Instead of Spike or Angel, Harmony deserves to shanshu. She struggles on a daily basis to do good without her soul, and she doesn’t expect anyone to go easy on her. She put up with being treated like crap and made her own way in the world. (Slaygal)[3]

Fandom

Harmony is a bit of a Marmite character. Some fans love her for the way she always tries so hard;[1] others dislike her for being shallow & self-absorbed. Harmony bashing occurred after the character joined Angel.[4]

Harmony-centric fanworks are relatively rare, considering the breadth of her appearances and the fact she has a canonical relationship with Spike. In October 2004 there were only around 12 Harmony-centric stories in the Buffy Fiction Archive.[1] Little (if anything?) was written about her before canon turned her into a vampire, and relatively few later stories explore her human existence. Her appearance as Spike's girlfriend in 'The Harsh Light of Day' sparked BtVS stories both set in Sunnydale and exploring the couple's past history. Angel-centric stories are usually set during her time at W&H, ignoring her earlier appearance in 'Disharmony'.

By far her most common pairing is with Spike, and much gen fanfiction examines why Harmony tolerates abuse & belittling from him. Several other het pairings have also been written. There's a little femslash, with partners including Fred & Cordy.

Fan art depictions of Harmony are relatively rare. Meta often concentrates on why her character changes relatively little when she becomes a vampire (unlike Angel), her loyalty and limited interest in evil, and whether she has the potential for redemption without a soul. There's also discussion of her arguably abusive relationship with Spike, which sometimes compares it with Spike's relationship with Buffy.

Example Fanworks

Fanfiction

Fanart

Vids

Meta

Resources

References

  1. ^ a b c idol-reflection: Harmony Kendall (BtVS/AtS): The Littlest Vampire (accessed 12 September 2015)
  2. ^ Comment from Karabair in Reviews for Maturity (accessed 12 September 2015)
  3. ^ buffymeta: 39. (accessed 14 September 2015)
  4. ^ Angel & Buffy Fanfiction: Harmony Ficathon (accessed 12 September 2015)
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