Xander Harris

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Character
Name: Alexander (Xander) Lavelle Harris
Occupation: Sunnydale High student, construction worker, vampire fighter
Relationships: Cordelia, Faith, Anya, Dawn
Fandom:
Other:
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Xander Harris was a regular character for the entire run of the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer and is a regular character in current season 8 Buffy comics. He was played by the actor Nicholas Brendon in seasons 1-7 (1997-2003).

Canon

Xander is the only 100% human character among slayers, vampires, werevolves, demons, supersoldiers, Watchers and witches. He starts as a Sunnydale High student; in season 4, when his friends start college, he feels disconnected from them, but in season 5 he discovers carpentry (apt metaphor, as he is the glue that holds the Scooby gang together) and slowly becomes his own man. After the destruction of Sunnydale he relocates to Europe and works as Buffy's second-in-command.

His major relationships in canon are with the following characters:

  • Cordelia Chase. In season 2 Xander saves Cordelia Chase, the bane of his high school existence, one too many times, and the most unlikely romance in the known universe occurs. (Episode "What's My Line", part 2)
  • Faith. In season 3 Xander loses his virginity to Faith the Vampire Slayer, who later becomes an enemy and tries to strangle him.
  • Anya. By the end of season 3 Xander meets former demon Anya who has lost her demon power. In season 4 they become lovers. In season 5 Xander proposes to Anya on the eve of the upcoming apocalypse. In season 6 they plan to marry, but Xander leaves her at the altar. They briefly resume their relationship in the end of season 7, but in the finale Anya dies in the battle.
  • Dawn. Working together brings Xander and Dawn close. In issue 28 of season 8 comics, Buffy sees Xander and Dawn kissing.

Fandom

Xander is Special

There are several recurring tropes in fanfiction regarding Xander. Most of them stem from the fact that Xander was the only human member of the Scooby Gang and aim to make him something more. The Xander is Special trope started early and is possibly one of the most used tropes when it comes to Xander.

Xander is turned into a vampire, a demon, a seer, or any kind of supernatural being (or he is one from the very beginning) but the change doesn't stop there. In many cases his new status is made Special because of some quality (he's a Consort, he gains Destiny, he's the key to saving the world).

Related Xander is Special tropes include:

  • Hyena!Xander fics see Xander repossessed by the hyena spirits or they never truly left him in the first place. Fics with Hyena!Xander often see him trying to form a pack, acknowledging Scoobies as his pack and looking for a mate. Because Xander's hyena has been acknowledged as female, in fics he sometimes clashes with Buffy (the alpha female of the Scoobies).
  • Soldier!Xander: In episode six, in season two, titled "Halloween" Xander is transformed into a soldier (due to a spell cast by Ethan Rayne). Afterwards, he retains the memories he gained during the spell, however that fact isn't explored at length. It's briefly acknowledged in canon, when Xander obtains a bazooka in season 2, and in season 4 when the Scoobies break into the Initiative's base. In fanfics the military knowledge Xander has is used to strengthen his position in the group, and explain his good fighting skills. In some fics, Xander actually joins the military.
  • YAHF or Halloween fics: There were many episode tag fics written for the season 2 Halloween episode and the majority of these AUs are Xander-centric and often overlap with Xander gets powers tropes. A common fanfic trope, especially seen in crossovers, is the retention of superpowers, skills, and other characteristics acquired by wearing different costumes in this episode. It's most common in Xander-centric stories, but has been used to make most canon characters into superheroes, turn them into Ewoks, etc.
  • The One Who Sees: In season seven, Caleb pokes Xander's eye out calling him The One Who Sees. That trope is used to sometimes give Xander Seer powers. The title is also referenced in many post season seven fics.
  • The Zeppo: Because of his human status Xander is often perceived as The Zeppo, the useless one in the group. He sometimes even refers to himself as such both in fics and in canon. Xander The Zeppo is a prominent part of shipper fics where the other half of the ship is the one to acknowledge Xander's skills and usefulness.[1]

Xander is one of the most popular characters to be turned into a Gary Stu/Marty Stu/Mary Sue, often via these tropes.

Other Common Tropes & Storylines

  • Xander in Oxnard stories are set in the summer between Season 3 & 4. It's implied on the show that Xander spent his summer washing dishes at a strip club and may have covered for a male stripper who called in sick. Xander in Oxnard stories can focus on Xander's gay awakening, or he may meet a character from Sunnydale while he is in Oxnard.
  • Xander in Africa stories are set Post-Chosen, and sometimes Post-NFA. In season 5 of Angel the Series, it is said that Xander is in Africa. This led to a lot of works focused on Xander's time recruiting slayers in Africa. These works were often very Xander-centric and featured a host of OCs, but characters from the Buffyverse also appear.
  • Watcher!Xander works often overlap with Xander in Africa fics, or they may be Post-Africa works. There are also season 8 Watcher!Xander fics - in the comics, Xander is portrayed as a Watcher in Scotland, responsible for training slayers.
  • Vamp!Xander fics may focus on Xander being turned into a vampire, or they may be works featuring the Wishverse version of Xander who is already a vampire.

Sexuality

There was much discussion of Xander's sexuality in the fandom - much of this was amongst slash shippers, but within the wider fandom there was also an acknowledgement of the subtextual hints that Xander was not entirely straight.

[gloss]

Through s3, Xander expresses appreciation for lots of guys, and even in s5, he notes how compact and well-muscled Spike is. Moreover, "Phases" is an awesome look into his homopanic when Larry comes out to him, and it gets picked up again in "Earshot". I've always figured Xander was bi at the very least, even if he never *did* anything about it.[2]

[angstpuppy]
Joss was definitely setting it up so either Xander or Willow could be the "gay one." Xander comments on most of the buffyverse men. Angel: "He's very attractive. Why didn't anyone tell me that?" (I'm quoting from memory here, so not exact), and the comment about Spike mentioned above and when he and buffy go intothe Innitiative for the first time: "I totally understand. Can I have sex with Riley too." I think there is a good argument for the cannon character of Xander Harris being bi.[3]
[mirasol]
There's not much said about sexuality but there's loads of subtext - and of course The Look. The one in "Beneath You" when Nancy asks Anya, Spike, Xander and Buffy "Is there anyone here who hasn't slept together?" it's not Xander/Buffy or Buffy/Anya that look at each other - yes, it's Spike and Xander.[3]

Ships

Spike/Xander (Spander) is probably the predominant pairing in fanfiction. Angel/Xander was more common in season 1 and 2. Other significant slash pairings include Giles/Xander and Xander/Oz.

When it comes to het, fandom seems to ship Xander with most of the female characters. There are works for Cordelia/Xander, Willow/Xander, Faith/Xander and Anya/Xander. There are also works pairing Dawn/Xander, usually with an adult Dawn. At the very beginning there was some Buffy/Xander going on but it seemed to lose the appeal as the series progressed. Rarer pairings include Fred/Xander, Illyria/Xander, Harmony/Xander and Joyce/Xander.

The popularity of Xander-centric YAHF stories, which are often crossovers, has contributed to Xander being paired with a large number of characters from other fandoms.

Notable Fanworks

Meta

Character Essays

Ship Essays

Fanfiction

Zines

Archives and Communities

Resources and links

References

  1. ^ At some point in 2009 there appears to have been persistent flaming of authors using this term, with the poster insisting that Xander should be called The Zippo instead, and some authors complied, see: Twisting the Hellmouth Forums - The Zippo? (7th August 2009, accessed 20th July 2015). The practice seems to have ended fairly quickly.
  2. ^ "ship_manifesto Spike/Xander (BtVS)". 2004-08-24. Archived from the original on 2022-03-25.
  3. ^ a b Comment on post at bloodclaim, August 3, 2005
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