No Giles? No Wesley?

ActualSize | December 13, 19:57 CET

No Wesley?

Don't get me wrong, I love Giles, but Wes had a better character arc.

Also, no Dollhouse love?

Elf | December 13, 21:38 CET

Wes was a glaring omission, no surprise that I can't fault their top choice. This did just make me want to watch Firefly again. :)

Stoney | December 14, 02:25 CET

I wouldn't be surprised if the creators of this list hadn't even seen Dollhouse- (because as much as I liked Marty in Cabin in the Woods, Topher is definetly the superior Fran Kanz Whedon character.)
(I'm also abit surprised Angel was so high on the list, as he wasn't even the best character on his own show.)

rg253 | December 14, 02:49 CET

I honestly can never decide between Buffy and Mal for my favorite Whedon character. I just can't.

Ricardo L. | December 14, 06:23 CET

Willow should've been much higher on this list. No argument about Spike being at the top, though. :)

Charlie | December 14, 07:28 CET

My totally unbiased takeaway was just that the list writer/committee were big Buffy/Firefly fans. Which is more to say, I can't really make this list make total sense without that assumption going in.

Cordy and Angel were big Buffy characters as was Spike. Wes was in Buffy for a blink and you missed it stint. Although for me Angel definitely deserves his placement. Both him and Xander I do tend to feel were ill-used by the writers at times though for outside-the-universe points they were trying to make that didn't always feel organic to the place in life they appeared to be. But that's just my opinion.

But I have noticed as the years have passed, pop culture seems to have binned both Angel and Dollhouse (I always notice this in Orphan Black articles) so this list is not shocking. Fans haven't, but pop culture is what it is.

[ edited by azzers on 2015-12-14 19:32 ]

azzers | December 14, 10:25 CET

Yeah, Wesley, Adelle and Topher not even getting Honorable Mentions makes me sad. I'd choose any of them over Angel, and he's a good character. I think it just says a lot about Joss's work. There are just too many to choose from, while with most writers I can barely pick one favorite. I also loved Hadley and Sitterson in CitW despite their small amount of screen time.

luciddreams | December 15, 22:29 CET

@azzer, definetly agree about how pop-culture seems to have discarded Angel and Dollhouse. It just feels depressing to have this trend occur in an article called 'top 10 Joss Whedon characters'- (as the article does end up just feeling like 'Top 10 characters from Buffy and Firefly' while perpetuating the idea that Angel and Dollhouse don't really matter.)

rg253 | December 16, 05:47 CET

The first that come to mind for a top ten:

1. Buffy
2. Wesley
3. Willow
4. Simon
5. Fred
6. Mal
7. River
8. Faith
9. Giles
10. Wash

With honorable mentions for Topher, Sierra, and Victor -- my three favorites from Dollhouse. They're slightly lower because, to me, Dollhouse's character arcs just weren't as strong or consistent as some of the others. But it's also really hard to pick among the Firefly cast, because I love all of them a lot.

I just realized I left out Kaylee. And Zoe. And Lorne. And .... Argh. Ten is not enough.

erendis | December 16, 22:32 CET

My criteria for listing the Best of Jossverse comes down to not which character I liked or enjoyed best in the series but which characters continue to have an emotional and intellectual impact on me now. Which characters do you think about today and how do they continue to reflect back from Series to Real Life?

Spike, Buffy, Mal, Wesley, Angel, Dark Willow, Maggie Walsh/Initiative - these are the characters that continue to be important to me and who continue to bring the series and the real world together. Giles is also on the top characters because of his role as teacher/guide that played such an important role in setting the social/cultural perspectives of the group relating to the demons. I list Xander as honorable mention when he shows the "dark side" in the every man role.

While I always will like the other characters they are like many of favorite characters from films or other series - really more entertainment now. The perfect example for me would be Andrew - I love the character, I liked him from the first time he appears but he is primarily entertainment not in the same category as Spike or Buffy who continue to be a force in how I think about the world we live in.

It's a pity that Dollhouse has so little attention and recognition - I don't know what happened that brought about this lack of recognition.

nmcil | December 21, 00:21 CET