D'Hoffryn

D'Hoffryn is a recurring antagonist in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and is one of the Lower Beings, a class of incredibly powerful demons - his main task is to oversee the creation of vengeance-demons and ensuring their infernal work goes according to his plans.

History
It is unknown how long D'Hoffryn had been responsible for the creation of vengeance demons, but in ancient Greece, when the Slayer Artemia was tortured and killed by the vampire known as Kakistos, and his servants, D'Hoffryn subsequently facilitated the transformation of her maddened daughter Alexandra into the vengeance demon Malice, to enable her to destroy Kakistos' maenads. A later battle waged on Arashmaharr stripped Malice of her powers.

D'Hoffryn was in Sweden in medieval times where he met a young woman named Aud, who had recently used magic to turn her cheating boyfriend into a troll. He offered Aud a position as vengeance demon, and she became Anyanka, the Patron Saint of Scorned Women. When Anyanka, under the guise of Anya, was robbed of her powers by an alternate version of Rupert Giles while attempting to exact vengeance on behalf of Cordelia Chase, D'Hoffryn refused to help her, leaving Anya stuck in a teenage body.

D'Hoffryn attempted to convince Willow Rosenberg to become a vengeance demon after Oz left her following her accidental use of a 'Will Be Done' spell that rendered Giles blind, Xander attracting multiple random demons, and Spike and Buffy engaged. Willow declined the offer- although she did request D'Hoffryn's help in ending the spell-, but D'Hoffryn left his talisman (a tool to summon him) in case she changed her mind. Two years later, D'Hoffryn was a guest at the failed wedding of Anya and Xander Harris. While acting almost father-like during the wedding, after Xander left Anya at the altar, D'Hoffryn convinced her to become a vengeance demon once again.

Anya's second stint as a vengeance demon was short-lived, her time as a human having left her feeling uncomfortable about unleashing vengeance like she had before, and during a confrontation between Anya and Buffy Summers, Willow summoned D'Hoffryn to help put a stop to the fighting. D'Hoffryn asked Anya what she wanted and she said that she wanted to reverse the vengeance she had exacted, which had caused a massacre. D'Hoffryn granted her wish, telling her that it would require the sacrifice of a vengeance demon's body and soul. Believing she was about to die, Anya was resigned to her fate only to watch helplessly as D'Hoffryn summoned her friend Halfrek and immolated her. D'Hoffryn then left, disgusted with Anya, though not before rendering her human again and leaving the oft-repeated ominous warning of "From beneath you, it devours". Despite his philosophy of "Never go for the kill when you can go for the pain," D'Hoffryn sent at least two demon assassins to kill Anya, but they were both defeated by Buffy and Spike, respectively.