Unlike other television series focused on teens, Buffy the Vampire Slayer was well-written, had witty dialogue, and didn't insult the intelligence of its demographic. It also boasted competent acting chops from its young cast, who were expected to treat silicone masks and fake blood like they were the makings of real vampires and demons. From the late '90s to the early '00s, Joss Whedon's coming of age chronicle of a teenage girl chosen to protect her hometown from the forces of evil was a huge hit.
As much as fans loved the principle cast of Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar), her friends, her love interests, and even her villains, there were always those particular characters that were as well-received as garlic fries at a vampire cookout. Whether they were poorly written, terribly acted, or just plain boring, they lessened the quality of a timeless supernatural show. Here are the 10 most hated supporting characters on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
DRUSILLA
The first love of Spike’s human persona, William the Bloody (so named for his bloody awful poetry) was Drusilla, a beguiling vampire that lured him into her embrace with the promise of immortality for himself and his sick mother. She kept him devoted to her and on a tight leash, insanely jealous of anyone else that took his fancy.
He was then enslaved to her for decades, connected by their blood bond, and forced to endure her mad ramblings as her mind became further eroded. By the time Drusilla was back in Spike’s life in Sunnydale, she had lost much of her charisma and become cloying, annoying, and a nuisance.
HARMONY
After Drusilla, Spike became attached to Harmony, or rather Harmony became attached to him. She started off as one of Cordelia's minions, but ended up one of the most air-headed vampires you’d ever meet in Sunnydale. Nothing about her was a cold, methodical killer, or even very interesting. Her storylines involved pining for Spike and trying to make him jealous.
Loud, abrasive, and extremely unintelligent, she spent her days making up nauseating pet names for Spike and forcing him to play games with her like 20 Questions. While we could feel sorry for the dismissive way he treated her, we can’t blame him for wanting her out of his unlife as soon as possible.
DAWN
In the fifth season, Buffy Summers inexplicably gained a kid sister. It was never explained how it happened, and no one seemed the least bit perturbed by it. Only that Dawn was the vessel for which “the key” (a mystical entity) could be housed and hidden from those that would seek to exploit it.
By living under the same roof as The Slayer, she was sure to be protected from Glory, a goddess from Hell who arrived in Sunnydale to open the Hellmouth. Dawn may have been important, but she was a whiny, petulant teenager with no character arc that managed to get everyone close to her hurt.
RILEY FINN
Riley was one of the most “normal” boyfriends that Buffy ever had, and one of the only “human” ones. By day, he was just like Buffy, a carefree college student just trying to stay on top of his grades, hang out with friends, and occasionally have a night out at the Bronze.
By night, he was a super soldier recruited to take down supernatural threats in Sunnydale. His organization was hunting an experiment, a cyborg humanoid named Adam, through the streets of Sunnydale when he and Buffy became an item. Riley was wholesome but boring, and never really pushed Buffy into complex story arcs the way Spike and Angel did.
VERUCA
Veruca, the self-absorbed werewolf woman that stole Oz's heart was bound to be one of the most annoying characters on the show, if Willow fans didn't outright hate her guts. She lured Oz into a relationship that wasn't half as meaningful as what he had with Willow, and all for her own selfish gains.
Besides destroying one of the cutest couples in the Buffyverse, Veruca also didn't have much of a point in Season 4, instead dragging out a storyline of being the leader singer of a band at the Bronze and gloating over victory. Buffy fans weren't sad to see her killed off, but they were mad her end forced Oz to break his no killing rule.
CORDELIA
One of the popular “mean girls” at Sunnydale High, Cordelia was a Queen B who constantly picked on people like Xander and Willow while marginally tolerating Buffy. She only cared about herself and whatever was trendy, and loathed the Scooby Gang.
While she helped the Scoobies on occasion, she wasn't much more than a researcher until she finally staked a vampire on Graduation Day. She would go on to help Angel infinitely more down at his supernatural law firm in Los Angeles, helping him found Angel Investigations. She had a few good one-liners, but her constant staging of popularity contests made her a tiresome character.
ANDREW
Andrew was one third of The Trio, a group of uber nerds from Sunnydale High that decided they would band together to be supervillains. At first, they just built hyper realistic robots and used them to commit silly crimes, but soon their ambitions grew, and they sought to confront The Slayer herself.
Their delusions of grandeur eventually got the better of them, and left the leader Warren flayed, and fellow member Jonathan dead. Andrew was the only surviving one who fled to the Slayer’s sanctuary for protection. Andrew was mousy, annoying, and took too long to develop a backbone by the time he could help the Scoobies. He was ultimately responsible for a lot of innocent deaths by being a coward.
WARREN
Warren was the leader of The Trio, the group of super nerds that tried to take down the Slayer and her Scooby Gang. Entitled, self-centered, and a bully to the other two members Andrew and Jonathan, he fantasized about being as powerful as the Galactic Empire in Star Wars and gaining the admiration of hot chicks everywhere.
Warren’s pursuit of power ended up corrupting him entirely, and he went after Buffy alone when the trio abandoned him. He got his just comeuppance, but not before causing the ultimate tragedy for the Scoobies. Was he a worthy Big Bad for Season 6? Only because we got Dark Willow, but he proved to be a pathetic adversary when she got her revenge.
KATHY NEWMAN
As if hunting vampires and demons wasn't interfering with Buffy's school load enough, she had to contend with one of the most annoying roommates in UC Sunnydale history. Kathy Newman was obsessed with Celine Dion, was endlessly perky, had a weird habit of clipping her toenails at inconvenient times, and was a control freak about labeling her eggs.
She put Buffy in jeopardy on more than one occasion by randomly surprising her while on patrol, insisting on "share time", and keeping her off her game by rummaging through her things. Thankfully, she turned out to be a demon, which Buffy was more than capable of handling.
KENNEDY
To deal with the heartache of losing her girlfriend Tara, Willow went a little crazy. And by a little, we mean a lot. She turned into a dark witch and almost destroyed Sunnydale if not the entire world. That being said, we'll forgive her for not being in her right state of mind when she chose to begin a relationship with Kennedy.
Kennedy was a potential Slayer who found Willow attractive, and was just aggressive and arrogant enough to make the first move. She came off as entitled, vain, and condescending, the exact opposite of the kind and compassionate Tara. It was torturous to see her and Willow together and we were happy when their fling ended.