Wesley Wyndam-Pryce
Encyclopedia : W : WE : WES : Wesley Wyndam-Pryce
| Wesley Wyndham-Pryce | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Alexis Denisof as Wesley Wyndham-Pryce | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
Wesley Wyndam-Pryce (born in London, England; died in Los Angeles) is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon and introduced by Douglas Petrie for the cult television programs, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. The character is portrayed by Alexis Denisof.
Biography
The character first appeared in Buffy the Vampire Slayer as a replacement Watcher for Faith Lehane and Buffy, following the discharge of Rupert Giles by the Council for disobeying its orders and becoming too attached to his charge. For the duration of Buffy and until Season 2 of Angel, Wesley is portrayed as an incompetent but intelligent and likeable buffoon with a heart of gold. On Angel, Wesley grows from being Angel's comic-relief sidekick into a mature and capable partner, the brains and later the leader of Angel Investigations. Though not the best hand-to-hand combatant, Wesley has exceptional skill with thrown weapons and firearms.
Wesley is introduced as a clean-cut, somewhat pompous and bossy watcher who is immediately disliked by the Slayers under his watch. When introduced on Buffy, he is inexperienced and handles himself poorly in combat; prior to his assignment to Buffy and Faith, his only encounter with vampires had been brief and controlled. Giles, his predecessor and fellow Englishman, does not take him seriously, and tends to support Buffy's predilection for ignoring Wesley's counsel.
Wesley develops an inappropriate crush on Cordelia Chase, a high school student and ex-girlfriend of Xander Harris. Their flirtation culminates in a dance at the high school prom, followed a few days later by an awkward kiss, after which both characters realize that the attraction had been illusory.
Faith gradually descends into darkness and Buffy quits working for the Watchers' Council entirely when they refuse to help her save Angel; Wesley is eventually fired from the Council. He stays to help fight the pivotal battle on Graduation Day, when the Sunnydale mayor ascends into a powerful demonic form. The last appearance of Wesley in the series shows him being carried away on a stretcher (after taking only one hit).
Even in his early episodes on Buffy, his role as the "one to make the hard decisions even if he has to make them alone" is evidenced in an episode where he would rather allow Willow to die than to give the Mayor back an object which would allow him to complete his Ascension. He is immediately dismissed by the group as lacking in compassion, though his logic is sound.
In the first-season episode "Parting Gifts" of the Buffy spin-off series Angel, Wesley appears in the somewhat comical role of a leather-clad "rogue demon hunter," a self-applied title that only serves to make him seem more ridiculous. Memorably, after introducing himself to Cordelia with this title, he is faced with her question "What's a rogue demon?".
Wesley gradually begins to show signs of emotional complexity and a troubled past. In the episode "I've Got You Under My Skin", viewers are given hints that Wesley may have been psychologicially abused as a child, and that his various insecurities may be in part a result of his father's unrealistic expectations of him. Indeed, Roger Wyndam-Pryce, a respected member of the Watcher's Council, was an insensitive and harsh father, a man who made little or no effort to tolerate Wesley's mistakes, or the actions he perceived as such, and in a way inspired Wesley's ruthlessness.
Wesley eventually becomes a crucial member of Angel Investigations. In Season 2, he finds himself running the organization in Angel's absence and shows himself to be highly capable, as well as developing a strong brothers-in-arms relationship with Charles Gunn. He shows his ruthlessness once more when, in the adventure in Pylea, he plans an attack that will send many Pylean rebels to their deaths as part of the rescue of Cordelia from the Covenant of Trombli. As he explains to Gunn when the latter questions his willingness to sacrifice the rebels: "If you try not to get anybody killed, you end up getting everybody killed."
His path becomes filled with tragedies and difficult choices. Just as he is beginning to have romantic feelings for Winifred "Fred" Burkle, he is supernaturally influenced to attempt to kill her, ending his opportunity for love. After the birth of Connor, Angel's son, Wesley becomes convinced of the truth of a prophecy that Angel would kill Connor. With the intention of saving Connor, Wes kidnaps him, betraying all of his companions. In doing so, Wes himself is betrayed, his throat is cut and the baby is taken from him. When he finally recovers, Angel tries to kill him. The prophecy turns out to be false, meaning his betrayal had been for naught. As a result, Wesley was banished from Angel Investigations, with Angel making an attempt to kill him.
Wesley continues his descent into self-loathing when he begins to sleep with Lilah Morgan, a mortal enemy. However, he still continued to fight the good fight, albeit in a far darker way than before. By this time he is deeply changed from his foppish early appearance. He keeps becoming involved in the affairs of Angel Invesigations throughout Season 4, starting by rescuing Angel from the bottom of the ocean and reviving him with his own blood. He eventually returned to the team full time during Jasmine's manifestation. Now deeply serious, humourless and pessimistic, he takes command and makes the difficult decisions of bringing back Angelus and helping Faith escape from jail in order to stop Jasmine and the Beast. He also has to face the trauma of Lilah's death.
His dark attitude is alleviated somewhat when the gang takes over Wolfram and Hart, but is still a far cry from his days on Buffy. He is further traumatized when his father appears on Los Angeles, reprimanding him and scrutinizing his every move. When his father threatens to kill Winifred, Wesley shoots and kills him without an instant's hesitation, only to find seconds later that what he thought was his father was a cyborg designed to infiltrate them in order to enslave Angel, and who had complete knowledge of Wesley's background learned from the Council's records. The fact that the being he had killed wasn't his real father did little or perhaps nothing to appease Wesley. Wesley's relation with his father over the years had left him convinced that the real Roger Wyndam-Pryce was a ruthless man who would be capable of deceiving and killing even his own son in the name of the greater good.
In the 5th season, Wesley finally got together with Fred, only to lose her shortly after when her body is occupied by the spirit of the demon Illyria, one of the Old Ones. This leaves Wesley a broken man who turns to alcohol to ease his pain and tries to help Illyria understand the world, a move that furthers Wesley's suffering but at the same time he sees as the only way to keep some part of Fred close to him. Also, upon finding out that Charles Gunn was indirectly responsible for what happened to Fred, he stabs him in retaliation. He also kills Knox for his part in Illyria's ascension. Despite his pain, Wesley remains compromised with the good fight.
When Angel proposes to attack the Circle of the Black Thorn, the secret arm of the Senior Partners, Wesley agrees to challenge a demon sorcerer named Cyvus Vail, who knew of Wesley's growing instability and believed him to be a wildcard who could betray Angel. However, Cyvus proved too powerful for Wesley and he was overpowered & mortally wounded. Despite his wounds, Wesley manages to temporarily knock Vail out with an energy sphere, which allowed him to spend his final minutes with Illyria at his side, finally agreeing to let the demon take the form of Fred. After Wesley finally passes away, Illyria avenges his death by shattering Vail's skull with one punch.
Romantic Relationships
- Cordelia Chase
- Unnamed bleached blonde: with whom Wesley had a one-night stand
- Virginia Bryce
- Winifred Burkle
- Lilah Morgan
- Illyria: Though not a romantic relationship, Wesley felt drawn to Illyria as she was all that remained of Fred.
Appearances
Wesley has appeared in:
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer
- Nine episodes of season three.
- *Season 3 - "Bad Girls", "Consequences", "Doppelgängland", "Enemies", "Earshot", "Choices", "The Prom", "Graduation Day Part One", "Graduation Day Part Two".
- Angel
- Wesley was a regular character, technically starting with the episode "Somnambulist", though he first appeared in the previous episode
See also
| Buffyverse | ||
| Main | Canon | Index Chronology: Ancient | Modern | BS1 | BS2 | BS3 | BS4/AS1 | BS5/AS2 | BS6/AS3 | BS7/AS4 | AS5 | Future | Flashbacks | |
| Buffy | Characters (main) | Characters (minor) | Episodes | Plot | Comics | Film | Pilot (unaired) | Promo: History.. | Novels | Promos: Pre-"Bargaining" | |
| Angel | Characters (main) | Characters (minor) | Episodes | Plot | | |
| Spin-offs | Comics | Fan made productions | Fray | Novels | Spike movie | Undeveloped productions Buffy Animated | Card Game | RPGs | Tales of Slayer (prose) | Tales of Slayers | Tales of Vampires | Toys | Video Games Upcoming: Blackout | | | | | | Portal Through Time | Spike vs Dracula | | |
| Powers | Angel Investigations | Circle of the Black Thorn | Order of Aurelius | The First Evil | The Initiative | Monsters | Old Ones | The Powers That Be | Ra-Tet | Scooby Gang | Senior Partners | Watchers' Council | Wolfram & Hart | |
| People | Adam | Amy | Andrew | Angel | Anya | Buffy | Caleb | Connor | Cordelia | Dawn | Darla | Doyle | Dru | Eve | Faith | Fred | Giles | Glory | Gunn | Harmony | Holtz | Illyria | Jasmine | Jenny | Joyce | Jonathan | Kate | Kennedy | Lilah | Lindsey | Lorne | The Master | Mayor Wilkins | Oz | Professor Walsh | Riley | Spike | Tara | Warren | Wesley | Willow | Xander | |
| Places | L.A. | Sunnydale Bronze | Caritas | Hellmouth | Hyperion | Library | Magic Box | Pylea | Sunnydale High | |
| Music | Complete Tracklist | Use of Music in Buffy & Angel | Dingoes Ate My Baby | Film | | | Once More, With Feeling | |
| Key Terminology | "Demon" | "Slayer" | "Vampire" | "Watcher" | "Werewolf" | "Witch" "Child of Senior Partners" | Shanshu | Sunnydale Syndrome | Tro-Clon | |
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.