Thread:Jester of chaos/@comment-30829344-20170802214734/@comment-25008763-20170802215621

that would make Warren a Destroyer of Innocence rather than a Game Changer - he committed an act of terror that changed how the characters acted and "darkened" the show but he's also basically a very successful Big Bad.. villains in Buffy are NOT light-hearted and did things worse than what Warren did, the only difference is Warren got "lucky" and managed to harm the group.. Angel did similar earlier on when he killed Giles' lover, Giles just didn't go insane like Willow (because the show didn't fancy an Evil Giles at that point).

every Big Bad and even a good number of One-Off villains in Buffy are grimdark and the comedy elements you talk about didn't really change the show's general brand of villainy - most monsters in Buffy are horrendously violent, cruel and have done extremely disturbing things.. Warren was just a psycho who managed to wound an angry lion.

Angelus did the whole mood shifting long before Warren and by default he also did the whole "friend of hero turns evil" before Willow.