Jonathan Levinson

Jonathan Levinson (born in 1981 in Sunnydale, California) is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the cult television program Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The character is portrayed by Danny Strong.

Biography

Character History

Jonathan Levinson was born in 1981 and raised in Sunnydale, California. He attended Sunnydale High School where he was often bullied, ridiculed and ignored by his more popular peers resulting in him developing low self-esteem.

In 1997, while attending the World Culture Dance, Jonathan was singled out by Ampata Gutierrez, who was in fact a resurrected Incan princess, who wanted to kiss him and transfer his life-force to her own. Not knowing her true nature, Jonathan did not resist either; believing his luck in love had changed and he was only saved when Xander Harris came to the rescue. A week later, Jonathan was later picked by Cordelia Chase to accompany her to the Bronze after she had a bad dating experience with Crestwood College student Richard Anderson who tried to sacrifice her to Machida. The relationship did not last though and she soon moved on to Alexander.

The following year, in 1998, like so many others in the school, Jonathan too became possessed by a Bezoar that had been given to the class by Mr. Whitmore. As soon as Buffy Summers killed the mother Bezoar, Jonathan was freed from the Bezoar's control, believing himself to have been caught in a gas leak. Jonathan's self-esteem was dealt another crushing blow later that year when he tried out for the school's swim team and did not make it only to be picked on by Dodd McAlvy, who repeatedly dunked his head in a bucket of ice cold water to see how long he would be able to hold his breath. Buffy saved him, further bashing his esteem and he went on to urinate in the swimming pool, which he later confessed to Willow Rosenberg under duress.

The following academic year, Jonathan became a senior and he was invited to a welcome back party for Buffy at her home in Revello Drive. Zombies raised by Ovu Moboni crashed the party and Jonathan was one of the few guests who made it out alive. Prior to the Homecoming Dance both Cordelia and Buffy were campaigning to become Homecoming Queen, allowing Jonathan to show his mercenary side by trying to get as much out of both of them as he could in exchange for his vote. Towards the end of that year, while minding his own business, Jonathan was later singled out by socialite Harmony Kendall and the Cordettes as a possible boyfriend for Cordelia, who had just been cheated on by Alexander. The incident was humiliating for Jonathan and was yet another incident that contributed to his ever-decreasing confidence.

Having had enough, Jonathan took steps the following year, in 1999, to commit suicide atop a bell tower at the high school after having left Freddy Iverson, a columnist for The Sunnydale High Sentinel, a suicide note for him to publish. Buffy soon tracked Jonathan down though; under the false belief he was going to kill other students with his rifle. After assuring her he was only going to kill himself she talked him out of it informing him that everyone in the school was dealing with just as much pain as he was. As a result of bringing a gun into the school Jonathan was later suspended for a couple of weeks. Upon returning to the school, Jonathan's confidence had marginally increased and at the Sunnydale High Senior Prom he had a date with a girl much taller than he was. At the prom, he also found the confidence to present Buffy with a Class Protector award. Come Graduation Day, Jonathan joined the rest of the Class of 1999 in fighting against Mayor Richard Wilkins III who had completed his Ascension to become the demon Olvikan. During the battle, Jonathan aggressively pounced on many Vampires and survived to see the school be blown up and catch a jumpy Cordelia in his arms.

After trying to kill himself, Jonathan entered into counseling where he met another suicidal person who introduced him to an Augmentation Spell, which Jonathan cast in 2000. The spell created a monster though to contrast to the ideal that Jonathan had created in himself. As a result of the spell Jonathan became everyone’s ideal and had several pieces of merchandising created in his honor such as Jonathan and his autobiography Oh, Jonathan where he claimed to have created the Internet. Jonathan was also believed to have starred in The Matrix despite never having left Sunnydale, which was one of a few things that tipped Buffy, who he had supposedly led in fighting Vampires, off to the spell he had cast. The two went about killing the monster, despite Jonathan being unwilling to and after he killed it, with Buffy’s help, everyone’s perception of Jonathan returned to normal, with him apologizing to Buffy the following day after the Swedish twins Ilsa and Inga left him at his mansion and he lost his job as tactical consultant at the Initiative.

Over a year later, in 2001, Jonathan, in a moment of boredom, joined Warren Meers and Andrew Wells, and they agreed to take over Sunnydale, with Jonathan using his expertise in magic to help them. A month later, Andrew summoned a M’Fashnik Demon to cause a distraction in the Sunnydale Securities Bank while they robbed it. Buffy interfered and almost ruined the plan, however when Warren came up with the plan to have the annoyed M’Fashnik kill her, Jonathan was the first to object, even though Warren went ahead and set the two up anyway, ending in the M’Fashnik being killed by her. When the Trio later decided to compete with each other on how effectively each member could use their expertise to annoy and assess Buffy’s weaknesses, Jonathan used his experience with magic to make Buffy have to please a customer who required an Ancient Mummy Hand from the Magic Box. Buffy eventually completed the task and when she began suspecting that she was being tested Jonathan was forced to use his Magic Bone to pretend to be a horned demon, which she kicked and punched a few times before Jonathan managed to retreat. A few weeks later, Jonathan aided the other two in stealing the Illuminati from a museum in Sunnydale, freezing the guard, Rusty, with their Freeze Ray in the process. The three were later confronted by Spike who wanted Warren to examine his Behavior-Modification Circuitry, to which Warren agreed to do after the three negotiated the safety of their Boba Fett action figure.

In 2002, after accidentally making Buffy invisible with an Invisibility Ray, Jonathan agreed with Andrew that they should return her to normal before she disintegrated. Thus a meeting was set up at Noah’s Arcade where not only was Warren planning on going behind his partners’ backs but the Trio’s identity were revealed to an under whelmed Buffy. With the Scooby Gang now knowing whom the Trio were and where they were based, the Trio fled Warren’s basement. When Warren accidentally killed Katrina Silber after using their newly created Cerebral Dampener on her, Jonathan was the first in the Trio to suggest turning themselves in to the Sunnydale Police Department. Jonathan was subsequently unsure of what to do when they got away with the murder when her death was ruled a suicide as neither Warren nor Andrew were showing much remorse. Jonathan soon began to feel that Warren and Andrew were conspiring behind his back when they planned to rob from a vault without informing him, causing him to be more and more unsure about his place in Warren’s plans.

Andrew and Warren continued scheming against Jonathan, while they furthered their plans to rob the vault by stealing a mystical disk from a group of Vampires in Sunnydale Cemetery. Allowing himself to be bossed around, including wearing the skin of a Nezzla Demon so he could get the Orbs of Nezzla’khan to make Warren stronger, Jonathan informed Buffy while the Trio were robbing an amusement park that the way to defeat Warren was by crushing his orbs. She did so, but Warren escaped on a Jet Pack and confirming his suspicions Andrew too revealed he had a Jet Pack but hit his head on the ceiling above while he used it causing him and Jonathan to be taken to the Sunnydale Police Station.

In jail, Jonathan made sure that Andrew knew Warren would not be coming to save them and nor would Andrew’s aunt, insisting they would be forced to spend time in prison. To make matters worse, while the pair had been in jail, Warren had shot Buffy and killed Tara Maclay causing Willow to go on a homicidal rampage and with Warren dead, Jonathan and Andrew were her next targets. Anyanka Teleported to warn them and Buffy helped them escape, driving them to the Magic Box for protection. Willow eventually tracked them down and the pair accompanied Alexander and Dawn Summers to safety as Buffy fought Willow. Andrew became nervous though and threatened Alexander with a sword only to be threatened back by Jonathan who informed Andrew that after Willow was defeated they would be going back to jail. The four made their way to a cemetery to hide but they were attacked by a ball of fire sent by Willow and were only narrowly saved by Buffy, with Alexander knocked unconscious. With no one to keep them there both Jonathan and Andrew resolved to go to Mexico and promptly ran away.

While in Mexico, both Jonathan and Andrew began having dreams that led them back to Sunnydale where they knew a great power was rising, which in actual fact was the First Evil. The two returned on November 12th, with Jonathan having the intention of finding the Seal of Danzalthar and alerting Buffy to it so she could stop the coming and allow Jonathan to join the Scooby Gang. Andrew had other ideas and after they made their way to the Basement of the new Sunnydale High School and uncovered the seal, Jonathan proclaimed how much he missed everyone he went to school with and wanted to know how they were doing only to be stabbed by Andrew who was working with the First Evil. Jonathan did not bleed enough to open the seal though as he was anemic and as such his death was for nothing. Robin Wood subsequently buried Jonathan.

Powers & Abilities

Though he had no innate powers, Jonathan became an accomplished sorcerer, capable of performing reality alterations (Superstar), time loops and glamours.

Romantic Interests

• Ampata.
• Cordelia Chase. Cordelia favors the awkward and geeky Jonathan with her presence at the conclusion of season two's Reptile Boy even though he forgets the extra foam on her cappuccino.
• Ilsa and Inga. Swedish twin sisters who live with Jonathan during the season four episode Superstar, in which he casts a spell on the town to make everyone believe he is a paragon.

Appearances

Jonathan has appeared in:

Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Jonathan appeared in 29 episodes overall. He has made guest appearances in the episodes:

Season 1 (1997) - Unaired Pilot.
Season 2 (1997, 1998) - Inca Mummy Girl, Reptile Boy, What's My Line? Part 2, Bad Eggs, Passion, Go Fish.
Season 3 (1998, 1999) - Dead Man's Party, Homecoming, The Wish, Earshot, The Prom, Graduation Day Part 2.
Season 4 (1999, 2000) - Superstar.
Season 6 (2001, 2002) - Flooded, Life Serial, Smashed, Gone, Dead Things, Normal Again, Entropy, Seeing Red, Villians, Two To Go, Grave.
Season 7 (2002, 2003) - Conversations With Dead People (murdered), Never Leave Me (as The First), First Date (as The First), Storyteller (flashbacks and dream sequences).