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| “ | You think you can fight me? I'm not a demon, little girl. I am something that you can't even conceive. The First Evil. Beyond sin, beyond death. I am the thing the darkness fears. You'll never see me, but I am everywhere. Every being, every thought, every drop of hate. | „ |
| ~ The First Evil |
| “ | (As Warren:) Of course she won't understand Sparky. I'm beyond her understanding. She girl, made of sugar and spice and everything useless unless you're baking. I'm more than that. More than flesh (Shifts into Glory:) More than blood. I'm- you know what? I honestly don't think there's a human word fabulous enough for me. Oh, my name will be on everyone's lips, assuming the lips haven't been torn off. Not just yet. That's all right though. (Shifts into Adam:) I can be patient. Everything is well within parameters. She is exactly where I want her to be, and so are you, Hostile 17. Right where you are. (Shifts into Mayor Richard Wilkins:) So what did you think, you get your soul back and everything would be jim dandy? a soul is slipperier than a greased weasel. Why do you think I sold mine? Well, you probably thought that you'd be your own man, and I respect that. But you never will. (Shifts into Drusilla:) You'll always be mine, always in the dark with me, singing our little song. You like our little song. You've always liked them, right from the beginning. And that's where we're going. (Shifts into The Master:) Right back to the beginning. Not the bang, not the word, the true beginning. The next few months are going to be quite a ride, and I think we're all going to learn something about ourselves in the process. You'll learn you're a pathetic shmuck, if it hasn't sunk in already. Look at you, trying to do what's right. Just like her, you still don't get it. It's not about right. It's not about wrong. (Shifts into Buffy:) It's about power. | „ |
| ~ The First taunting Spike while taking the form of all the previous big bads. |
The First Evil, also known as The First and The Infinite Evil, is one of two overarching antagonists (alongside Wolfram and Hart) of the Buffyverse serving as a minor antagonist in season three of Buffy The Vampire Slayer and the main antagonist of season seven.
It is an evil being, literally the root of all evil in the world; older than time itself-where it predated human and demon-it apparently personified the concept of evil itself, being a source from which all evil came. The First was an incorporeal presence able to assume the form of any person who had died, including undead vampires and those who had been resurrected. Because of this, it would show up in many different forms, depending on whom it was trying to manipulate. The form it took when portraying itself seemed to be that of a large, robed beast.
It was portrayed by the following actors and actresses: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Shane Barach, Edward Edwards, Cornelia Hayes O'Herlithy, Robia LaMorte, Adam Busch (who also portrayed Warren Mears), Clare Kramer (who also portrayed Glory), George Hertzberg (who also portrayed Adam), Harry Groener (who also portrayed The Mayor), Juliet Landau (who also portrayed Drusilla), Mark Metcalf (who also portrayed The Master), Azura Skye, Kristine Sutherland, James Marsters (who also portrayed Spike), Danny Strong, Amanda Füller (who also portrayed Madison Murphy in Orange is the New Black), K.D. Aubert, Lalaine, Carrie Southworth, and Nathan Fillion (who also portrayed Caleb).
Origin[]
| “ | You're everywhere. You're in the hearts of little children, in the souls of the rich, you're the fire that makes people kill and hate, the cleansing fire that will cure the world of weakness. They're just sinners. You are Sin. | „ |
| ~ Caleb about the First Evil. |
The First Evil appears to be the sum total of all that is evil, older than the Demons or even the Great Old Ones and far more ancient than humans, it has existed before the written word and transcends all reality and dimensions (at least those that appear in the Buffy universe) - it is suggested that it may even have been the very first entity to have existed as stories say that the First Evil lurked in the darkness long before the physical universe was even created and that it shall remain long after the universe ends - despite its seemingly massive power-level few have heard of it and even fewer actually believe it to exist. The only thing older than The First is The Seed of Wonder, the source of all magic in the universe.
The First Evil cannot affect the world on a physical level - only able to deceive, torment and manipulate others, having a deep understanding of human nature since it can copy the thoughts of all human beings who have died. It uses this knowledge to drive others to commit acts such as murder and suicide. Though it once expressed the desire to feel what it would be like to kill a human being by it's own hand, this lead to it coming up with a plan to either gain a physical body of its own or to possess all humanity through means of tipping the cosmic balance via their army overpowering humanity.
Season 3[]
The First Evil first appears in the episode "Amends". Taking on the form of Jenny Calendar and two of Angel's victims when he was Angelus, The First guilt trips Ange and torments him, pushing him to the edge of despair and manipulates him to have sex with Buffy so he loses his soul once more. However Angel, resisting the First's manipulation, decides to commit suicide by facing the rising sun, which The First consider a viable option since it will prevent Angel from becoming a champion of good. The plan failed however, as an unexpected snowstorm blocks out the sun, renewing Angel's faith in a future.
Season 6[]
Buffy's resurrection causing the balance of the mortal realm to be disturbed, The First saw an opportunity to enter the physical realm and instructed his Harbingers of Death and his right-hand man Caleb, to start killing the potential slayers and to make preparation to eradicate the Watcher's council to facilitate his plan.
Season 7[]
The First decides to torment a newly ensouled Spike in order to make him a pawn for his plans, using its knowledge of his past to turn him into an inside man among the Scoobies. Meanwhile it would also manipulate the lonely Andrew Wells, setting him up to sacrifice his friend Jonathan to release the First's army of prehistoric vampires: the Turok-Hans. This failed however and the First had to find another way to open the Hellmouth.
During the season, the First would make other attempts to kill the Scoobies and the potential slayers living and training in Buffy's house which would culminated in a fight between a Caleb empowered by the First and the Harbingers, and the Scoobies. Later, when Buffy was expropriated from her own house, the potentials were led into a trap set up by Caleb, killing many potentials.
Eventually, Buffy received an amulet from Angel (given to him by the Senior Partn ers) which she in turn gave to Spike. During the final fight, where the newly empowered potentials fought against the Turok-hans, the amulet was used by Spike to destroy the First's army, closing the Hellmouth and causing Sunnydale to collapse on itself. This event forced the First to disappear and go dormant for the foreseeable future though likely to resurface eventually.
Personality[]
As the personnification of evil, The First was a purely malevolent entity that seeked to end the balance between good and evil. It is sadistic and since it is intangible, it likes to torment people to push them to commit suicide.
It possesses an intimate knowledge of human psyche and uses it to manipulate effectively its pawns to do its bidding or to drive its victims to despair.
Being intangible, the First expressed a desire to become corporeal to enjoy the physical sensations of a body.
Powers and Abilities[]
Powers[]
| “ | Fact is, the whole "good and evil, balancing the scales" thing? I'm over it. I'm done with the mortal coil. But, believe me, I'm going for a big finish. | „ |
| ~ The First Evil |
- Nigh-Omnipotence: The First Evil is an extremely powerful primordial entity with incalculable powers. So far he has shown:
- True Immortality: As a primordial malevolent force, he cannot truly die or be killed by any means.
- Apparition Creation: He is capable of assuming the form of any person who has died, including vampires and dead people who have been resurrected and it uses these forms to frightening effect in manipulating others throughout the series.
- Brainwashing: He is able to use a supernatural version of Classical Conditioning on Spike, creating triggers which would affect his psychology and behavior.
- Power Bestowal: While he established a link with Caleb, Caleb gained superhuman physical attributes, which are vastly superior to Buffy or any other being.
- Limited Reality Warping: He could conjure up earthquakes, disturb electronically devices, shatter glass, exert extreme telekinetic force and somehow make blood unnaturally appear on a wall.
- Semi-Omnipresent: He can appear anywhere no matter wherever the person hides. He can even make people whom he wishes to not see him invisible and inaudible to his presence, while communicating with the others.
- Invulnerability: Due to his non physical form, he is impossible to physical harm.
Weaknesses[]
| “ | I want to feel. I want to put my hands around an innocent neck and feel it crack. I want to bite off a young girl's face and feel the skin and gristle slither down my throat. | „ |
| ~ The First Evil |
Its only true weakness is that it is unable to deal physical damage, being ghostlike in nature - it is however a master of manipulation and act through its many servants or any creature it may manage to trick into doing its bidding.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Anthony Stewart Head was not allowed to touch anything on-screen for part of the seventh season, beginning with the episode "Bring on the Night" and concluding in "The Killer in Me" in order to set up suspicion that he may actually be the First. Joss Whedon explains he did this "to make people wonder. Just to have a little fun in the sense of pulling a mystery... an exercise, something to spice things up." Whedon wanted to play off the "creepy" idea that "we don't know where the bad guy is, we don't know where he's coming from. Our trusted mentor could be the bad guy.".
- The First has appeared as twenty different characters over the course of the series: Buffy Summers (ten times), Warren Mears (four times), Spike (3 times), Drusilla, Jonathan Levinson, Mayor Richard Wilkins (two times), Jenny Calendar, Daniel, Margaret, Travis, Glory, Adam, The Master, Cassie Newton, Joyce Summers, Eve, Nikki Wood, Chloe, Betty, and Caleb (1 time).
- Likewise, the First is the character that has been portrayed by twenty different actors.
- The First takes the form of all six previous main antagonists: (The Master, Drusilla, Mayor Richard Wilkins, Adam, Glory and Warren). In the season premier he does them all in reverse order of the seasons they are antagonists of.
- Like the Alliance's Parliament of the Joss Whedon series Firefly, the First Evil, as the overarching antagonist of the series, survives. This pattern of sparing the series' overarching antagonist is not followed with Dollhouse, however.
- Also, The First is one of two main antagonists of the series not to be killed, the other being Drusilla.
- The First bares some similarities to Highlander: The Series satanic demon named Ahriman. Like Ahriman did to Duncan MacLeod and his friends, The First taunts Buffy Summers and her friends. Also like Ahriman in Highlander: The Series, The First appeared earlier in the series before it was in the final season. Both even killed members of the Watcher's Council in their respective universes.
- What makes them different is that Ahriman is not limited to imitating a dead person like the first, also it can actually cause physical harm to the world, unlike The First. Also unlike The First, Ahriman was never the final main antagonist of the final season.
