Faith Lehane

Faith Lehane is a Vampire Slayer in Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV series and comics. She serves as the secondary antagonist of Season 3.

Biography
She was born in the city of Boston on December 14, 1980 in a dysfunctional family. Her father was abusive and her mother was a drunk. Her father was put in jail for murder when she was just four years old; however, Faith was told that he passed away. Faith got an imaginary friend named Alex who was a vengeance demon named Malice who was born Alexandra. She would though-out her teens have nightmares about being chased by vampires and the death of an ancient Slayer named Artemia at the hands of The Father who is also known as the vampire master Kakistos.

Later on, Faith would be suspended a lot from school for fighting. Faith lived alone after her mother was arrested. She was put into a foster home. It was there Faith slayed her first vampire, albeit accidently by pulling on curtains and watching the vampire turn to ash. Shortly after Faith would be reunited with her mother only to find out that she was being forced by her sleazy boyfriend, she was a whore. Faith then beat her mom's latest client up nearly to death but was arrested and taken to a mental hospital for observation. She met this young man named Kenny who had the ability to create living manifestations from the mind. Later on she was released under the care of Diana Dormer, her first Watcher.

For the first time in her life, she had someone she can call a parent she never had. Diana trained Faith in various forms of fighting, preparing her come the day she would be a Slayer. But once again tragedy struck as Faith would find out her mother was dead. Shortly after on May 12, 1998, she became a full Slayer when Kendra Young was killed by Drusilla in Sunnydale. But also her nightmares would intensify and have fights with her imaginary friend. She would eventually would be possessed by Artemia who while in Faith's body went after Kakistos and his people to avenge herself. With the help of Kenny and Diana, her spirit was exorcised from Faith. However Kakistos was pissed. He never knew she was possessed by one of his past victims and went out and kidnaped Diana to lure Faith into a trap. To an extent the trap worked. Once she showed up he sliced her in half and a battle ensued and his face was permanently wounded by Faith in battle. Soon after she met up with her imaginary friend one last time and it was revealed that she was the daughter of the slayer that possessed Faith and she was helping her avenge her mother's death. Her imaginary friend vanished, never to be seen again. She would eventually arrive in Sunnydale

Upon Faith's arrival, she killed a vampire outside of The Bronze with Buffy's stake. Shortly after, Faith met the entire Scooby Gang. It was strange and refreshing to her that people were this close to each other. It's something Faith never had. When she met Rupert Giles, she always envied Buffy for having him as a watcher. Kakistos caught up with Faith in Sunnydale and he had a new minion, Mr. Trick. At first, Faith hesitated out of fear to face the ancient vampire and his minions. With the help of Buffy, she staked him. Over time Faith was hanging out with The Scoobies and even slaying with them. She was even trained by Rupert Giles, Buffy's watcher, Rupert Giles is the watcher that Faith always wanted, that is until Gwendolyn Post arrived. She claimed to be Faith's watcher, but was really after this glove with ultimate power. They eventually killed Gwen, but between her betrayal and Buffy hiding the fact that Angel was back, she lost her faith in humanity once again for she was lied to and used...once again. They patch things up during Christmas. However things between her and the Scoobies was once again copacetic. She even helped them detroy the Hellmouth demon and on the same night had taken Xander's virginity

Rupert Giles was fired due to him not participating in a barbaric right-of-passage tradition so Wesley Wyndam-Pryce was placed as Faith and Buffy's watcher. Faith and Buffy went out on a night of wrekless behavior. They were having fun slaying, stealing and other not-so-legal activities, that is until Faith committed manslaughter on Deputy Mayor Allan Finch and denies the whole thing. She even went as far as putting the blame on Buffy when she rightfully suspected that Buffy couldn't keep it under her hat. Xander foolishly thought he could talk some sense into her. Faith almost killed him but Angel saved him, knocking her out. Angel later was talking to Faith. He could relate to her because of his 100 years of being Angelus, the criminally insane souless vampire who's killings were second to none. His talks nearly worked until Wesley in an ill-advised attempt to take in Faith to the council. At that moment, she was completely withdrawn from everyone. No one knew the extent of that. No one knew she decided to work for evil. She went to the Mayor whom she discovered was current big bad and offered her services to him.

Faith for a time was a double agent, feeding all sorts of knowledge to him. He put her up into an apartment, gave her money, comics, cookies, and even a PlayStation. He was like the father she never had. He genuinely loved Faith and never used her. However in a sting operation set-up by Buffy, Giles, and Angel, her true loyalties were exposed. Faith then openly commits acts of murder and helps him collect items for his ascension. Faith would try to kill Angel with a poison, a poison which would be cured only with a blood of a slayer. Buffy went over to her apartment and tried to kill her and bring Angel her body to snack on. But Faith didn't allow herself to be taken. She backed up off a ledge and fell onto a truck and slipped into a coma for eight months. She would share dreams with Buffy.

Faith woke up after a violent nightmare of Buffy trying to kill her. She would find out that the ascension was a failure. The mayor, another father figure was killed. Faith was in another bloodrage vengeance mode again. She lost another parental figure. She would go after the one person who killed her fatherly figure.....Buffy. However, in one of his last acts, the mayor, in case he lost took steps that Faith can ensure her vengeance. He gave her a mystical device that would switch their souls. Buffy took her life, so Faith figured she would take hers in return. And she did. She switched their bodies. But the experience was strange. She felt loved by everyone, by Buffy's friends, her family, her watcher and even her boyfriend Riley Finn. This all threw her off. She had these 'what have I done' feelings and saw herself as a monster. She tried to flee town but she found out a vampire gang was going to kill a church full of people udner the command of the demonoid, Adam. She rushed to that church and killed most of the vampires, except one. He was nearly killing her until Buffy, in Faith's body staked him. Faith in a rage attacked Buffy and then Buffy with her own mystical device switched them back. Faith once again was on the run.

Faith ran as far as Los Angeles. She mugged and beat her way through town. Her arrival raised a few alarms, namely the ones at the evil law firm Wolfram & Hart. They hired her to kill Angel and exchange for all the criminally charges against her will be dismissed. Faith tried to kill Angel with a crossbow, but he caught the arrow. Faith would later try to get Angel into the game when she shot him. Shortly after she tracked down Cordelia Chase and waited for her in her apartment. Once Cordelia arrived, she knocked her and Wesley out. She kidnapped Wesley and brought him to her stolen apartment. She tortured him in all sorts of ways. But she was about to burn him, but Angel came and saved him. They had this all out brawl that spilled onto the streets. When it became clear to her Angel wasn't going to kill her, she broke down and cried when she asked him to kill her everything she did and Angel took her in, much to the chargin of Wesley and Cordelia. Angel kept her safe. They were attacked however by a demonic assassin sent in by Wolfram & Hart for not killing Angel. Just after they killed the demon, Faith hugged Angel just as Buffy entered the room. Buffy nearly beat up Faith, without Faith willing to fight back due to guilt. She felt bad about everybody that she hurt, especially Buffy who never gave up on her. But Angel interfered and Faith ran upstairs. A black-ops team from the Watcher's coucil who held Buffy when she was in Faith's body arrived and tried to kidnap Faith. But after a battle Faith escaped them but only to have turned herself into the LAPD and gave a full confession to officer Kate Lockley. Faith was later sentenced to 25 years to life for second degree murder. Faith finally made peace with herself and trying to earn her redemption so far. Buffy and everyone was proud of her for showing remorse and turning herself into the police which they expect she would never do.

A few years later, Faith was attacked in prison by another inmate who was an agent of The First Evil. She would shortly get a visit from Wesley who was telling her events happening in she already knew of: Rain of fire, sun blooted out, and murder and destruction was on the rise. However Wesley told her something she didn't know, Angelus, the soulless side of Angel returned. She broke out of jail and joined up with Angel Investigations to help them, much to the chargrin of a possessed Cordelia Chase. On the hunt for Angelus, Faith fought it out with Angel's wayward son, Connor. After which, she sent him home knowing he will try to kill Angelus. She would then be confronted by both Angelus and a rock-like creature known as The Beast. Faith gave it a good fight but she was nearly beaten to death by it. She was saved by Angelus when he stabbed The Beast in the back with a weapon forged by the Beast from his own bones, however the sun was brought back from that act. Angelus nearly fed on a weakened Faith but she broke a window making the sun pour into the room, thus saving herself. Later on Wesley brought her home and she showered. Shortly after, they went to the hyperion hotel, Angel Investigations HQ but was confronted with Angelus who was stealing intel on the Beast. Faith and Wesley later on would go out tracking down Angelus. They tracked him down to this bar which they found a drug-den for vampires. They took this drug called Orpheus out of the place for later use. Faith would with the information they took from the people within the bar track down Angelus and had a confrontation. While Wesley distracted Angelus, Faith injected herself full of Orpheus. Angelus and Faith had this fight. During that fight, Angelus tried to get into Faith's head stating how she's no better than he is. She nearly lost when he finally bit her. But the drug in her veins caused Angelus and Faith to fall into a deep sleep. They had this dream where we see Angel's past good deeds as well as one evil act Angel committed, even with a soul. Eventually they run into Angel. Angel and Angelus had this fight with a dying Faith witnessing it. Angel convinced Faith while he was in battle with his alter-ego to live. She woke up and she ran down to Angel only to find Connor try to kill him in his sleep. Once again she beat down Connor until Angel wakes up assuring him that he's back.

Faith would discover that Willow Rosenberg was in the hotel and was responsible for Angel being re-ensouled. She took her back to Sunnydale where she were to help the Scoobies and potiental slayers fight The First Evil. Only in their first battle, they run into The First's general, Caleb, a super-powered, psychotic, and misogynistic sociopath. He was more than a match for Faith, Buffy, Spike and other potentials. Unlike last time, she is willing to listen and being loyal to their cause. She patched things up with the Scooby's and Buffy. He even plucked out Xander's eye. Shortly after Buffy's every-growing wreakless behavior was being noticed by everyone. After Buffy said they should attack Caleb stating that what they need to win was in his possession, her friends, including Faith as well as the potienals all argued with Buffy, saying that they shouldn't just yet. After a long and heated argument, Buffy was asked by her sister to leave and they put Faith in charge. Despite her reluctance to take charge, she took command. Under her leadership, they kidnapped a Bringer, a dark servant of The First and questioned him. After they got what they wanted, they killed him. The First in the form of Mayor Wilkins visited Faith and tried to tell her that Buffy will try to kill her. After Ther First left her, she had a talk with Robin Wood, son of the late slayer Nikki Wood about it. She was so scared that she needed to feel anything else. So they had sex. The following morning, they went out to look for whatever Caleb was hiding. But it was a trap. They all were nearly killed in an explosion and a group of Turok-Hans, primative vampires. Buffy rescued them with a mystical slayer weapon called a scythe. After which, they brought home Faith and the other wounded. Faith would later on recover and with Buffy and the others fought a final battle against The First Evil and it's minions. They won the battle with a few casualties including Anya and Spike. Also the town Sunnydale and the first was destroyed.

Robin Wood, now Faith's ex, led a squad of Slayers at the Hellmouth, in Cleveland. Rupert Giles, head of the revived Watchers Council, contacted Faith to make a deal: if Faith could assassinate an evil British Slayer, one Lady Genevieve "Gigi" Savidge, Giles would arrange for her to relocate permanently to any country of her choosing, with the promise of never having to resume Slayer duties. To get close to Savidge, Giles educated Faith in British formal etiquette and taught her how to speak with a British accent. Faith was largely successful in befriending Savidge, although her disguise as British aristocrat "Hope" was entirely blown when Buffy was summoned by Roden, a Warlock and Gigi's informal Watcher, for Gigi to kill.

Buffy brought all of Faith's issues to the surface, and in recognizing Faith, blew her cover. Betrayed and unstable, Gigi turned on Faith. In the insuing battle, Faith impaled Gigi on her own ax. As Roden appears, Faith begged for him to heal Gigi. He refused, saying that Faith should be his new Slayer, and that she would be better than Savidge. He said that together they could make Buffy disappear forever. Faith refused, and the two began to battle. As Roden was about to deliver the killing blow, Giles appeared from behind and stabbed Roden in the back with a pair of garden clippers. Faith threw Giles Roden's book and Giles opened it and yells out one of Roden's containment spells. He put the containment field inside Roden and expanded it, which caused Roden's head to explode. The following morning, Faith and Giles had returned to the apartment. Giles handed Faith her passport out of the country, which Faith accepted, but renounced her plans for retirement. She states that there are more Gigis out there, and that she believed she could help them walk over from the bad side, likening herself to a "Slayer Social worker." Giles agreed with the idea and decided to be Faith's partner in this, given that he and Buffy weren't on speaking terms anymore, after the whole ordeal.

When, she, Giles and the rest of the Slayer Organization gathered in Tibet, she and Buffy reconciled, once again and her powers were temporarily stripped along with the other Slayers and mystics of the Slayer Organization. Faith along with Giles and Andrew were the first ones to discover that the Big Bad of the Season, Twilight, was actually Angel. Faith's own personal views on Angel's actions as Twilight have yet to be discerned though she does call him a "man-bitch."

In the ensuing battle at the ruins of Sunnydale, Giles was murdered by a possessed Angel, while Buffy destroyed the Seed of Wonder, effectively removing magic from Earth. Faith was really hurt, when she lost another parental figure and the watcher she always wanted. In his will, Giles left Faith all of his belongings, savings, and property, allowing her to retire and be free from the constant violence that plagued her life. Faith immediately took to this, and was revealed to have a catatonic Angel residing with her, reasoning that her understanding of redemption means that she is the only person who can fully tolerate him at this point. Rupert Giles was resurrected as a child and all three of them work together to fight evil. Buffy seeing the younger Giles alive. He decided to go back to Buffy and his gang, they need him. He needs her and Faith and Giles left in good terms. But she sill misses him.