Xander Harris, the Magical Being
Jan. 14th, 2012 09:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
misseJust so you know, this isn't a story, but a discussion of a fictional character. Xander Harris is a very malleable character. You can pretty much do whatever you want with him, and you’ll have some justification from canon. It may be pretty thin justification, but it’s probably there. If you squint, and look sideways.
So, Xander the Magical Being: what is the justification, and where can you find it? My favourite starting point is in [Season 4, Episode 17] Superstar
That’s right, Xander performs magic by himself, without any interference or help from anyone else. And that’s just the start. Next we can turn to the two major spells that Xander was involved with: the Joining Spell, and the Resurrection Spell. Now I will admit that Xander was not the instigator or power behind either spell, but when you consider the circumstances, it does begin to look interesting.
The Joining Spell
There are four participants to the spell: Willow, Buffy, Giles, and Xander. Of the four, we have one supernatural being (Buffy), two known magic users (Willow and Giles) and Xander, the utterly normal human. Why? This is magic. Why do they to use an utterly normal human in a powerful spell, especially given they already have at least one other known magic user in their group (Tara) not to mention Anya, who knows a great deal about magic, and was a witch in her first go at being a human. (This isn’t specifically addressed, to my knowledge, until [Season 5 Episode 11] Triangle when Willow calls out Anya’s first husband, and her back-story is actually spelt out, so I don’t usually take it as a known thing in Season 4.)
Then we consider their positions within the spell. Willow was spiritus [translated in the show as spirit, but really air, soul, or life] and obviously the power behind the spell. Giles was sophis [translated as mind] and was there to understand the banishing spell used by the Enjoined Being they were creating. Buffy was manus, the hand, or physicality the Enjoined Being would inhabit, lending her (super)natural strength to the joining. And Xander was animus, which they translated as heart; ie, Xander was to be the heart, the core and the anchor of their spell.
[Side note: can’t actually find ‘sophis’ or ‘sophus’ in the Latin dictionaries I check, and Giles’ position would probably be better described as ‘mentis’ or ‘animus’, with Xander being ‘cordis’, especially since that one seems to have slightly more of a centrality to its concept.]
So: Xander is the heart, anchor and core of this powerful spell. A plain, ordinary, and weak human at the centre of the joining of three powerful (in their own way) beings: who thought this was a good idea?
Moving on…
The Resurrection Spell
Okay, I’m not going to get into the rights and wrongs of the spell (I’m what? The hell I’m not! It was a stupid idea, and they should have let her rest. Giles was right: Willow was a rank, arrogant amateur, and totally in the wrong to do it, and I don’t think the others considered the reality of the spell enough to realise just how black the magics they were getting involved with were. It is canon that Willow hid details from them, but this is a resurrection spell; by its nature, it is disruptive, and Tara and Anya, at the very least, should have understood this. It’s not surprising neither of them lasted more than two years after the spell was performed. That’s karma for you. Okay… Rant over: back to our regularly scheduled program.)
Back to the spell. Willow is the primary power of this spell, and procures some of the most dangerous ingredients herself, sometimes hiding the true nature of the ingredients from the others. But the other three involved in the spell are Tara (known magic user) Anya (ex-demon and another known magic user) and Xander, with not a magical bone in his body. Apart from sentiment, why do they keep involving him in major spells like this? Is it like Bridge or Poker, and they need a fourth? Inquiring minds want to know!
So that’s the two major spells Xander is known to have been involved with, and now we move on to other mystical occurrences.
The Troll Hammer
In [Season 5 Episode 11] Triangle, Xander is hit not once, but twice in the head by a troll wielding his hammer, and gets back up. The only other person to be hit by the hammer (in that episode, by the troll) is Buffy, and she was only hit once. Buffy later used the same hammer to hit Glory with, multiple times, in the season final, and it’s the continued use of the hammer that appears to do her in, or at least to the point where she has to cede her body back to Ben, who is then killed. So, to sum up, victims of the troll hammer: Glory (Hell-Goddess); Buffy (Slayer); and Xander (human.)
And, finally, Willow’s Attempt to Destroy the World. Having dealt with everyone that could be a danger to her, Willow then troops out to Kingman’s Bluff to raise the effigy of Proserpexa, thereby burning the world to a crisp. This required an intense amount magic, which Willow poured out of her body, and into the buried temple; a flow of magic that Xander stepped into. Now, I get that he loved her, and she had to be stopped, but, honestly, did the writers want us to think he’s some kind of demi-god? And that’s not the only time in this episode that he’s hit with Willow’s magic; he’s hit three times then slashed with magic twice, at which point she begins to weaken. Willow tries another two times, but she’s much weaker by that time, and is quickly overcome, at which point Xander comforts her while she cries. The man should be dead, and he’s holding his best friend while she weeps for her dead lover.
So, we have a purportedly normal and powerless human who has performed actual magic, supported two major spells, and endured two specific attacks that should have killed him, and yet he walked away both times. Yes, his wrist was broken by Olaf the Troll, but that was in a separate and deliberate act to the actual hammer blows. And now we come back to my original premise that Xander is a very malleable character. Without stretching canon, you can make him a prospective magic-user (though untrained) or even a demi-god (possibly without any knowledge of his heritage, simply much harder to kill than he has any right to be.) You just have to tilt your head and squint.
So, Xander the Magical Being: what is the justification, and where can you find it? My favourite starting point is in [Season 4, Episode 17] Superstar
Riley: "These spells... these really work? I mean, can you really 'turn your enemies inside out'? Or... learn to 'excrete gold coins'?"
Anya: "That one's not so much fun."
Willow: "They work, Riley, but they take concentration; being attuned with the forces of the universe."
Xander: "Right you can't just go 'librum incendere' and expect.."
The page of Xander's book bursts into flame. Xander is shocked, and Riley looks up. Xander slams the book closed, extinguishing the fire.
Giles: "Xander, don't speak Latin in front of the books."
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Episode Guides and Transcript
That’s right, Xander performs magic by himself, without any interference or help from anyone else. And that’s just the start. Next we can turn to the two major spells that Xander was involved with: the Joining Spell, and the Resurrection Spell. Now I will admit that Xander was not the instigator or power behind either spell, but when you consider the circumstances, it does begin to look interesting.
The Joining Spell
There are four participants to the spell: Willow, Buffy, Giles, and Xander. Of the four, we have one supernatural being (Buffy), two known magic users (Willow and Giles) and Xander, the utterly normal human. Why? This is magic. Why do they to use an utterly normal human in a powerful spell, especially given they already have at least one other known magic user in their group (Tara) not to mention Anya, who knows a great deal about magic, and was a witch in her first go at being a human. (This isn’t specifically addressed, to my knowledge, until [Season 5 Episode 11] Triangle when Willow calls out Anya’s first husband, and her back-story is actually spelt out, so I don’t usually take it as a known thing in Season 4.)
Then we consider their positions within the spell. Willow was spiritus [translated in the show as spirit, but really air, soul, or life] and obviously the power behind the spell. Giles was sophis [translated as mind] and was there to understand the banishing spell used by the Enjoined Being they were creating. Buffy was manus, the hand, or physicality the Enjoined Being would inhabit, lending her (super)natural strength to the joining. And Xander was animus, which they translated as heart; ie, Xander was to be the heart, the core and the anchor of their spell.
[Side note: can’t actually find ‘sophis’ or ‘sophus’ in the Latin dictionaries I check, and Giles’ position would probably be better described as ‘mentis’ or ‘animus’, with Xander being ‘cordis’, especially since that one seems to have slightly more of a centrality to its concept.]
So: Xander is the heart, anchor and core of this powerful spell. A plain, ordinary, and weak human at the centre of the joining of three powerful (in their own way) beings: who thought this was a good idea?
Moving on…
The Resurrection Spell
Okay, I’m not going to get into the rights and wrongs of the spell (I’m what? The hell I’m not! It was a stupid idea, and they should have let her rest. Giles was right: Willow was a rank, arrogant amateur, and totally in the wrong to do it, and I don’t think the others considered the reality of the spell enough to realise just how black the magics they were getting involved with were. It is canon that Willow hid details from them, but this is a resurrection spell; by its nature, it is disruptive, and Tara and Anya, at the very least, should have understood this. It’s not surprising neither of them lasted more than two years after the spell was performed. That’s karma for you. Okay… Rant over: back to our regularly scheduled program.)
Back to the spell. Willow is the primary power of this spell, and procures some of the most dangerous ingredients herself, sometimes hiding the true nature of the ingredients from the others. But the other three involved in the spell are Tara (known magic user) Anya (ex-demon and another known magic user) and Xander, with not a magical bone in his body. Apart from sentiment, why do they keep involving him in major spells like this? Is it like Bridge or Poker, and they need a fourth? Inquiring minds want to know!
So that’s the two major spells Xander is known to have been involved with, and now we move on to other mystical occurrences.
The Troll Hammer
In [Season 5 Episode 11] Triangle, Xander is hit not once, but twice in the head by a troll wielding his hammer, and gets back up. The only other person to be hit by the hammer (in that episode, by the troll) is Buffy, and she was only hit once. Buffy later used the same hammer to hit Glory with, multiple times, in the season final, and it’s the continued use of the hammer that appears to do her in, or at least to the point where she has to cede her body back to Ben, who is then killed. So, to sum up, victims of the troll hammer: Glory (Hell-Goddess); Buffy (Slayer); and Xander (human.)
And, finally, Willow’s Attempt to Destroy the World. Having dealt with everyone that could be a danger to her, Willow then troops out to Kingman’s Bluff to raise the effigy of Proserpexa, thereby burning the world to a crisp. This required an intense amount magic, which Willow poured out of her body, and into the buried temple; a flow of magic that Xander stepped into. Now, I get that he loved her, and she had to be stopped, but, honestly, did the writers want us to think he’s some kind of demi-god? And that’s not the only time in this episode that he’s hit with Willow’s magic; he’s hit three times then slashed with magic twice, at which point she begins to weaken. Willow tries another two times, but she’s much weaker by that time, and is quickly overcome, at which point Xander comforts her while she cries. The man should be dead, and he’s holding his best friend while she weeps for her dead lover.
So, we have a purportedly normal and powerless human who has performed actual magic, supported two major spells, and endured two specific attacks that should have killed him, and yet he walked away both times. Yes, his wrist was broken by Olaf the Troll, but that was in a separate and deliberate act to the actual hammer blows. And now we come back to my original premise that Xander is a very malleable character. Without stretching canon, you can make him a prospective magic-user (though untrained) or even a demi-god (possibly without any knowledge of his heritage, simply much harder to kill than he has any right to be.) You just have to tilt your head and squint.
no subject
Date: 2012-01-14 02:27 pm (UTC)I've been bothered by this for so long, but never managed to word it quite as nicely as you have! Xander can't be just a "pure human" like they seem to portray him as, it just doesn't work.
Another point, I think, is the whole thing about him being a demon magnet. Instead of just wanting to eat him, every creepy crawly thing that goes bump in the night in Sunnydale wants to do Xander. Granted, mantis-lady seems willing to do any virgin (including their poor, poor, apparently virginal science teacher), but Xander still makes the list. Then there's Incan Mummy Girl, Anya, Faith... and even though it's under the effect of a love spell, Drusilla calling him her Dark Kitten is wonderful.
So many magical things happen to him, too... as much as anyone else, and it doesn't mess him up. Split into two? I doubt I'd recover quite so well, myself!
I love any time that Xander is not just a normal human. (Heck, I write him as a Furyan!) Personally, I love the idea of Xander being insanely powerful - and just having absolutely no idea that he is.
no subject
Date: 2012-01-14 03:09 pm (UTC)♦ turned him into a demi-god (thanks to a combination of the Kingman's Bluff incident, the Empowerment spell (since he was in the vicinity) and Willow fixing his eye (because, please!)), and
♦ made him into Willow's kind-of-half-kind-of-full brother (identical twins and Jack O'Neill were involved: enough said) with contact magic powers (ie, he affects things through touch) (oh, and he and Willow were Buffy's half-siblings through Jack)
The possibilities are endless, especially when you add in Halloween. Fun times!