Nikki Wood

Character
Name:	Nikki Wood
Occupation:	Slayer
Relationships:	Robin Wood (son)
Fandom:	Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Other:
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Nikki Wood, originally credited as The Subway Slayer, is a character from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She was a Slayer in 1970s New York, and is the mother of Robin Wood. Dying 7 years after she was called, Nikki is one of the longest servng Slayers in BtVS canon.

Canon

Nikki first appeared in the very popular season 5 episode, Fool for Love, where the show flashes back to her murder at the hands of Spike. Nikki appears again in the season 7 (portrayed by a different actress). In this season, the First Evil appears to Nikki's son Robin, using her face. There is also another flashback in the episode Lies My Parents Told Me, to an early fight between Nikki and Spike in 1970s New York.

While only appearing in short flashbacks on the show, there are other sources of canon information for Nikki in the Buffy expanded universe of books and comics. "It's All About the Mission" was a short story featured in the Tales Of The Slayer anthology book series, that focused on Nikki's Tento di Cruciamentum, a test all Slayers undertake on their 18th birthday.

Fandom

The Subway Slayer

When Nikki first appeared in Fool For Love, portrayed by April Weeden-Washington, the character was unnamed, and she was credited as The Subway Slayer. Similarly the other Slayer killed by Spike, Xin Rong, who also featured in this episode, was credited as The Chinese Slayer. Nikki was named in Season 7 canon, but Xin Rong's name only appeared in the Buffy comics.

Recasting

When Nikki returned in season 7, she was portrayed by a new younger actress, K. D. Aubert. In interviews, April Weeden, the original actress, said she was passed over as she was too mature for the role. This has caused much discussion in fandom about the appropriateness and possible misogyny and/or racism in recasting this role. TPTB said they wanted a younger actress who would be more believable as a struggling single mother.

I know there was some really awful excuse about April Weeden looking 'too mature' (after two years!) to reprise the role, but it never sat right with me.

When I first saw Lies My Parents Told me when it first aired, there was a chain of thought in the forums that it was because the original person that portrayed her is primarily a stuntwomen, not an actress, but even then that didn't sound right.

I read that she was happy to play the role again but was told she was too old via a phone call? I don't think it was a fair reason and was double standards considering how others in the main and supporting cast aged, particularly those who played immortal characters--and they still played their characters in flash backs, with the idea that they weren't aging when many of the actors noticeably were. Not to mention the age of some of the actors chosen to play teenagers. That's my opinion anyway.

Along with what everyone else has said, the fact that the S7 actress, KD Aubert, is lighter skinned compared to Weeden has never sat right with me, especially now knowing the extensiveness of Hollywood's colorism re: black actresses.

In Fanworks

There are relatively few fanworks focused on Nikki, given her limited appearances in canon. In fanfiction, there are often stories detailing Nikki's early career as a Vampire Slayer. Her leather jacket often features, and there are works that look at the history of the jacket itself. In some fanfics Nikki meets older or long lived characters from the Buffyverse, such as Anyanka or Giles. In other works, time travel is employed to bring Nikki to the present, or send a BtVS character to 1970s New York. In some time travel works, Nikki's canon death is prevented.

As a character of colour in the Buffyverse, there are also several Nikki-centric fanworks that examine the role race placed in BtVS narratives. Within the Buffyverse fandom, it is often argued that characters of colour were stereotyped or underdeveloped, with many characters dying soon after their first appearance. Origin Stories is a well known fanvid that sought to refocus the narrative, focusing on Slayers of Colour who were under utilized in canon. This vid also coined the phrase, "It's Nikki Wood's fucking coat", in its tagline.

Example Fanworks

Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples.

Fanfiction

• The story after the story by Northlight (anenko), a short fic posted two weeks before Lies My Parents Told Me originally aired; the episode where the Subway Slayer was finally named in canon. This story is notable for framing Nikki's murder as the death of an unnamed 'young black woman', and looks at the reactions of the police, media and public, as well as Nikki's watcher. (2003)
• Wayward by Devil Piglet, An old acquaintance of Spike's turns up in Sunnydale. Or, in the words of one reccer, "Spike’s got his mojo (and his coat) back, but when a feverish Nikki Wood appears in Sunnydale, there’s going to be hell to pay.' The story was also posted at All About Spike: AAS Link (2003)

Vids

• Origin Stories

Meta

• It's Nikki Wood's Fucking Coat: An Essay About Race In the Buffyverse, archive link by saeva (2008)

Archives and Communities

• History Lesson, a small archive for works focusing on the Slayers who came before Buffy
• Nikki Wood works on Ao3

Links and Resources

• Interview with the Subway Slayer April Weeden-Washington by Billie Doux, posted at the atnzone.com, 2003. (Alternative Link)