First Evil

The First Evil
Buffy the Vampire Slayer character
First appearance "Amends" (1998)
Created by Joss Whedon
Portrayed by Robia LaMorte
Cornelia Hayes O'Herlihy
Edward Edwards
Shane Barach
Adam Busch
Clare Kramer
George Hertzberg
Harry Groener
Juliet Landau
Mark Metcalf
Sarah Michelle Gellar
Azura Skye
Kristine Sutherland
James Marsters
Danny Strong
Amanda Fuller
K.D. Aubert
Lalaine
Carrie Southworth
Nathan Fillion
Information
Notable powers Assumes form of anyone that has died

The First Evil (also called The First) is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The First Evil first appeared in the third season episode "Amends", and became the main antagonist of the 7th and final season.

A being manifested from all evil in existence, the First is an incorporeal entity that can assume the form of any person who has died, including vampires and dead persons who have been resurrected. Because of this it appears in various forms over the course of the series depending on who it is appearing to as a method of manipulation. For this reason, the First usually appears as Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) to the Slayer and her allies, but it also assumes the forms of Warren Mears, Spike, Drusilla and Jonathan Levinson on multiple occasions, among a variety of other forms taken less frequently.

Its only real weakness is that it is non-corporeal, and can therefore not do real physical damage. It is, however, expert at psychological manipulation, and can act through its servants, such as the Bringers, Turok-Han, Caleb or whatever person it can manage to trick.

Biography

Character history

The First Evil claims to be the source and embodiment of all that is evil. For technical purposes, the First Evil is neither male, female, demon, nor god; it is a "power". The First is older than demons, even the Old Ones, who themselves existed long before the first humans; it is older than the written word, the Big Bang and transcends all realities and dimensions; it is older than any other evil being and may even be the very first entity ever to have existed. It is said that the First lurked in the darkness long before the universe was even created and shall remain long after the universe ends. Few have heard of it and even fewer believe in its existence.

The entity cannot affect the world on a physical level. Its power lies in its ability to deceive, torment and manipulate others. It can take the form of anyone who has died, (or as an enormous, phantasmic demon with large horns and long, talon-shaped fingers), and it can choose to be seen and heard by just one person or by multiple people. The First has a deep understanding of human nature and it uses this knowledge to drive others to madness, murder and/or suicide.

The First makes its initial appearance in the series as a "monster of the week" that Angel must face in the episode "Amends". It tries to drive the vampire to kill Buffy by reminding him of his "true" nature (Angelus) and it sets about accomplishing this by appearing to him as some of his victims: Daniel, Margaret, Travis and Jenny Calendar. It tells Angel that it is responsible for his return from Hell, a claim which is ambiguous because of its deceptive nature and of The Powers That Be is likely the true culprit. The First suggests that Angel can end his sufferings by turning evil again, but the benevolent vampire chooses to kill himself using the sunrise instead. Even though Angel's death is not a part of the ideal plan (killing Buffy), the First does not mind because a powerful blow to the forces of Good would still be dealt (an elimination of a champion for The Powers That Be and the Shanshu Prophecy candidate). Despite Buffy initially unable of saving Angel's life, The Powers That Be ultimately intervened thus resulting The First's defeat.

Buffy's death(s) at the end of season 5 and subsequent resurrection caused an irregularity, or glitch, in the Slayer line that the First realizes and uses to eliminate the Slayer line forever. The First planned to use this glitch and kill the two Slayers (Buffy and Faith) and all the Potential Slayers thus tipping the balance of good and evil completely off tilt. All of this is part of the First's master plan to become all powerful and enter into the hearts, minds and souls of every single man, woman and child on Earth.

First, the First orders its second-in-command, the defrocked priest Caleb to send the Bringers after potential Slayers and destroy the Watcher's Council. The First then went to Sunnydale to attempt to open the Hellmouth, manipulating Andrew to kill Jonathan to do so. However, as Jonathan was anemic, this only resulted in negative energy flowing out.

The First revealed itself after ordering the Bringers to capture Spike, who it had spent months psychologically tormenting. Bleeding Spike, it was able to open the Hellmouth and release a Turok-Han, an ancient primeval uber-vampire, which it sent after Buffy and company.

After Buffy managed to kill the uber-vampire, the First lays low for a few weeks, then returns to psychologically torment the Potential Slayers. It also summons its second in command, Caleb to Sunnydale and begins the search for the Slayer's Scythe, which Buffy eventually takes. The First was defeated as Buffy, Faith, Spike and the Potential Slayers made a final assault against The First's Army of Turok-Han inside the Hellmouth.

The First appears in the video game Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds as the main antagonist, having helped Ethan Rayne escape from his imprisonment at the hands of the Initiative, and also participating in a battle between the two (or rather, each of their five champions). Buffy, Willow, Xander, Faith, Spike, and Ethan are all transported to the First's dimension (which appears as a version of Sunnydale similar to "Wishverse" created by Anya) against their will. The First's deal with Ethan was to give him great power if his champions (Buffy and her friends) won and if he lost for him to be the whipping boy of its lowest toadies. With the help of Sid the Dummy whose soul had been trapped by the First after his curse was broken and the First's old enemy Cassandra Rayne, Buffy and her friends defeat the First and disperse its form across multiple realities for centuries, freeing Sid and Cassandra to die.

Powers and abilities

Neither male or female, living or dead, the First is pure power. It is the darkness inside the hearts and souls of all living creatures. The fact that the First has no physical body makes it impossible, or at least extremely difficult, to kill. Yet, because of this, the First cannot truly interact with the physical world. However, certain people are able to interact and even become one with the First, such as Caleb.

The First appears in the physical world as dead people. This included people who have died, vampires and even dead people who have been resurrected. This allows the First to manipulate people (such as appearing as Warren to get Andrew to kill Jonathan), or engage in psychological warfare such as torturing Spike or appearing as dead Potentials to attack the others. The First seems also to know mannerisms, information and details of the life of whoever it is appearing as. This is best shown in "Conversations with Dead People" as the First appears to Dawn as her mother Joyce, appears to Andrew as Warren and appears to Willow as Cassie Newton, in an attempt to manipulate them all into serving its purpose.

As essentially the source of all evil, the First has knowledge of every monster and dark ritual in existence. This was exemplified by the runes the Bringers carved into Spike's chest to summon the Turok-Han.

As the First is said to be eternal, existing before time and believed to be the only thing remaining after the end of time, it is infinitely patient. A defeat it suffers is nothing more than a minor setback.

In Chaos Bleeds, the First displayed the ability to possess people, open portals, teleport beings across dimensions and, according to Sid, conjure a duplicate dummy body for him and trap his soul inside.

Appearances

The First Evil has appeared in 16 canonical Buffyverse episodes:

Buffy the Vampire Slayer'

Further reading

See also

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