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First Evil

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Template:Infobox Buffyverse character The First Evil (also called The First) is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The First Evil first appeared in the third season episode "Amends", and became the main antagonist of the seventh and final season.

A being manifested from all evil in existence, the First is an incorporeal entity that can assume the form of any person who has died, including vampires and dead persons who have been resurrected. Because of this it appears in various forms over the course of the series depending on who it is appearing to as a method of manipulation. For this reason, the First usually appears as Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) to the Slayer and her allies, but it also assumes the forms of Warren Mears, Spike, Drusilla and Jonathan Levinson on multiple occasions, among a variety of other forms taken less frequently.

Its only real weakness is that it is non-corporeal, and can therefore not do real physical damage. It is, however, expert at psychological manipulation, and can act through its servants, such as the Bringers, Turok-Han, Caleb or whatever person it can manage to trick.

Biography

Character History

The First Evil claims to be the source and embodiment of all that is evil. For technical purposes, the First Evil is neither male, female, demon, nor god; it is a "power". The First is older than demons, even the Old Ones, who themselves existed long before the first humans; it is older than the written word, the Big Bang and transcends all realities and dimensions; it is older than any other evil being and may even be the very first entity ever to have existed. It is said that the First lurked in the darkness long before the universe was even created and shall remain long after the universe ends. Few have heard of it and even fewer believe in its existence The entity cannot affect the world on a physical level. Its power lies in its ability to deceive, torment and manipulate others. It can take the form of anyone who has died, (or as an enormous, phantasmic demon with large horns and long, talon-shaped fingers), and it can choose to be seen and heard by just one person or by multiple people. The First has a deep understanding of human nature and it uses this knowledge to drive others to madness, murder and/or suicide.

The First makes its initial appearance in the series as a monster of the week that Angel must face in the episode "Amends". It tries to drive the vampire to kill Buffy by reminding him of his "true" nature (Angelus) and it sets about accomplishing this by appearing to him as some of his victims: Daniel, Margaret, Travis and Jenny Calendar. It tells Angel that it is responsible for his return from Hell, a claim which is ambiguous. It suggests that Angel can end his sufferings by turning evil again and killing Buffy, but instead he chooses to kill himself using the sunrise. His suicide is only averted by a freak snow storm, which is miraculous, as such weather is unheard of in Southern California. Episodes of the spin-off series Angel later suggest that Angel was returned from hell and his life saved by divine intervention from the heavenly Powers That Be.

Later, the First makes its presence known again in the seventh season by tormenting the vampire Spike, who like Angel has come into possession of a soul; tricking the former villain Andrew Wells into awakening the Hellmouth beneath Sunnydale High; and dispatching its agents, the Bringers, to kill young women around the world with the potential to succeed Faith as the current Slayer. When Buffy's allies Giles and Anya query the First's sudden rise in activity with a mystical third party, they learn that the First is able to act in this way because of an anomaly in the Slayer line caused by Buffy's recent resurrection, providing an outlet for the First to wipe out all the Slayers. Though incorporeal, the First is effective in prompting suicides, deceiving various members of the Buffy's gang, and releasing evil monsters from the Hellmouth. Later in season seven, the audience is introduced to the First's right-hand-man, the supernaturally strong misogynistic ex-priest Caleb, as well as its army of primordial Turok-Han vampires living beneath the Hellmouth. In the series finale, Buffy and her allies take the fight to the First by opening the Hellmouth and using magic to activate every potential Slayer in Buffy's army. With additional help from a magical amulet, the gang destroy the First's army, the Sunnydale Hellmouth, and the surrounding town.

After Buffy managed to kill the uber-vampire, the First lays low for a few weeks, then returns to psychologically torment the Potential Slayers. It also summons its second in command, Caleb to Sunnydale and begins the search for the Slayer's Scythe, which Buffy eventually takes. The First was defeated as Buffy, Faith, Spike and the Potential Slayers made a final assault against The First's Army of Turok-Han inside the Hellmouth.

The First appears in the non-canonical video game Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds as the main antagonist, having helped occultist magician Ethan Rayne escape military confinement to enact a plan for world domination. Buffy and her friends pursue the First over multiple realities and across the centuries, eventually "dispersing it across dimensions" to stop its plans to consume the universe with evil.

Powers and Abilities

Neither male or female, living or dead, the First is pure power. It is the darkness inside the hearts and souls of all living creatures. While the First has no physical body and is therefore extremely difficult to kill, it also cannot truly interact with the physical world. Certain people are able to interact and even become one with the First, such as Caleb.

The First appears in the physical world as dead people, including vampires, humans who have died, and dead people who have been resurrected. This allows the First to impersonate people for the purpose of manipulating others. For instance, the First appears as Warren to get Andrew to kill Jonathan during "Lessons," as Eve to more easily attack the Potentials during "Showtime," and as Buffy to amplify Spike's torture throughout Season 7. The First seems also to know mannerisms, information and details of the life of whoever it imitates. This is best shown in "Conversations with Dead People" as the First appears to Dawn as her mother Joyce, appears to Andrew as Warren and appears to Willow as Cassie Newton, in an attempt to manipulate them all into serving its purpose.

As essentially the source of all evil, the First has knowledge of every monster and dark ritual in existence. This was exemplified by the runes the Bringers carved into Spike's chest to summon the Turok-Han.

As the First is said to be eternal, existing before time and believed to be the only thing remaining after the end of time, it is infinitely patient. A defeat it suffers is nothing more than a minor setback.

In Chaos Bleeds, the First displayed the ability to possess people, open portals, teleport beings across dimensions and, according to Sid, conjure a duplicate dummy body for him and trap his soul inside.

Appearances

The First Evil has appeared in 16 canonical Buffyverse episodes:

Buffy the Vampire Slayer'

Further reading

  • Gallagher, Diana G. Prime Evil. Simon and Schuster, 2001. p. 60. ISBN 0-7434-3154-5
  • Holder, Nancy. CHOSEN. Simon Spotlight Entertainment, June 2003. ISBN 0-7434-8792-3
  • Jowett, Lorna. Sex and the Slayer: A Gender Studies Primer for the Buffy Fan. Wesleyan University Press, 2005. p. 116. ISBN 0-8195-6758-2
  • Kaveney, Roz. Reading the Vampire Slayer: The Complete, Unofficial Guide to Buffy And Angel. Tauris Parke Paperbacks, 2004. pp. 49–51. ISBN 1-86064-984-X
  • South, James B. Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy: fear and trembling in Sunnydale. Open Court Publishing, 2003. p. 213. ISBN 0-8126-9531-3
  • Tracy, Kathleen. The Girl's Got Bite: The Original Unauthorized Guide to Buffy's World. St. Martin's Press, 2003. p. 342. ISBN 0-312-31258-X
  • Wilcox, Rhonda V. Why Buffy Matters: The Art of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I.B. Tauris, 2005. pp. 32, 48, 51, 61, 77, 89, 91, 100, 105-106. ISBN 1-84511-029-3

See also

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