History Of Xander Harris Essay, Research Paper

Xander Harris Speech

He’s a lanky fellow, dark-haired and self-effacing. He uses sarcastic humor to hide his insecurity (no one’s told him it doesn’t work). Even when he’s being chased by a 100 feet serpent, he still manages to find the humor in the situation. He’s been in a complicated love triangle and lives to tell about it. A friend, lover and slayerette……He’s Xander Harris.

Good afternoon/morning Ms. Rosteing and fellow students. As you can see, my speech is on Xander Harris. If you don’t watch “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, which you should because it’s the best show on TV, you’re probably thinking, “who the hell is Xander Harris?”. Well for the next 3-4 minutes sit back, relax and get ready for a “goofy” good time (as Xander would say). His full name is Alexander LaVelle Harris. He’s 17 and hails from Sunnydale with its renown Hellmouth. Mishap after mishap, Xander is always there with a witty remark or funny joke. Xander is not exactly popular — with the guys or the girls. He’s the class clown and has much more important things to do than study homework — namely study girls. He hangs out with Buffy Summers (this generation’s slayer), Willow Rosenburg and Oz; otherwise known as the “Scooby Gang”. He’s been friends with Willow as long as they can remember. Before Buffy came along, it was just him, Willow and Jesse, his best friend. When Buffy showed up in Sunnydale, Jesse was turned into a vampire and he fell for everyone’s favorite slayer. Buffy joined their group, and with her, they started hanging out in the library with Giles, Buffy’s watcher. In terms of relationships, this is where it gets a little complicated. At the beginning of the show, Xander fell instantly in love with Buffy. But at the time, Xander and Willow were best friends, and Willow had a sizable crush on the X-man. So there was this love triangle deal going, and the fact that Buffy had no interest in Xander made it one big unrequited love angst-fest. Cordelia was one of the ‘popular’ girls, and treated Buffy, Willow, and Xander like little bugs that you want to squash as soon as you see them. Needless to say, there was some serious animosity between Cordelia and the others, but through bad luck and circumstance, she discovered Buffy’s secret. This became a major source of frustration for everybody, especially when Cordy was trapped in a basement with Xander, and their intense dislike for each other created some sort of twisted bond, resulting in a steamy kiss and a topsy-turvy relationship. The Cordelia/Xander dynamic really hurt Willow, who said to Xander, ‘You’d rather be with someone you hate than be with me.’ Luckily for Willow, she and Oz started going out, so her heart has been mended quite handily. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t some leftover feelings between Xander and Willow, though… Then just last season, Xander finally discovers his attraction for Willow and they kiss. Immediately, they realize their mistake, and discover that they have gotten themselves into a big mess that will end in pain for a lot of other people. Literary. Cordelia and Oz stumble upon them and Cordy gets impaled. It goes without saying that the couple break up on bad terms. Xander stumbles around, trying to find himself again and ends up having sex with everyone’s favorite skanky slayer, Faith. This one night fling ends up making Willow cry. With the arrival of the new watcher, Wesley, Xander becomes jealous of Cordelia’s attention to him; which shows that he still cares about her in his Xander-like way.

Xander, Xander, Xander. What can you say about him? He has a sense of humor that can make you laugh your brains out, he’s quite capable of being a perfect gentleman, he saves the day 70% of the time, and he’s the best friend a person could have. In other words, he’s the best character on Buffy, in my opinion, and is portrayed by an awesome actor. With his nutty and witty lines like “I laugh in the face of danger. Then I hide until it goes away” or “It’s funny how the earth never opens up and swallows you when you want it to”, who CAN’T love this adorable character?!