There are many well-known locations throughout the seven-season series of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Many fans of the show fondly reflect on locations such as Sunnydale High School (specifically, the library) or the graveyard. One of these locations that fans love to discuss is Giles' apartment.
Rupert Giles is British, a librarian, and most importantly, the Watcher of Buffy Summers. Considering that every slayer needs their own Watcher, it's safe to say that Buffy lucked out, as Giles is an integral part of the Scooby Gang and has gotten Buffy out of many tight jams over the years. That being said, Rupert Giles remains one of the fan-favorite characters on the show and his Sunnydale apartment is one of the primary locations on the show for many seasons.
It Became The Scoobies' Primary Headquarters
For the first three seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the library at Sunnydale High School served as the primary headquarters for the Scooby Gang. This was the place where the group formed many of their plans and solved many of their problems week after week - that is, until the end of season three, when the school is blown to bits and, suddenly, the Scoobies' favorite meet up spot is gone.
This is when Giles comes to the rescue and, after the destruction of Sunnydale High, offers up his apartment in its stead. After all, it is the duty of a Watcher to look over their Slayer. Giles' apartment becomes the new central hub for the gang, but not for long.
But It Wasn't The Last Headquarters
Giles' apartment was the headquarters of The Scooby Gang for just two years, however. After Buffy beats Dracula and Harmony Kendall and her gang kills Mr. Bogarty, the owner of the Magic Box, Rupert Giles decides to invest in a new business venture by purchasing the Magic Box himself.
The Magic Box was, indeed, a prominent location in the show since season three, especially for Willow, where she purchased books and supplies to practice her witchcraft. However, with Giles as the new owner of the Magic Box, the shop promptly became the new meet up spot for the Scoobies until the end of the series.
Attacked By The Chumash People
During Thanksgiving of 99, Buffy decides to throw a big Thanksgiving feast for the gang at Giles' apartment, much to his chagrin. However, their holiday festivities are interrupted by several Indigenous peoples rising back to life in an attempt to take back their land.
These Indigenous warriors are members of the Chumash people and after hunting the Scooby Gang all episode, the holiday finally comes to an end with a battle at Giles' apartment. Finally, after the Chumash warriors return to their graves, it's time to feast.
Spike Was A Temporary Resident
For a brief period of time, Giles actually had a roommate living with him at his apartment - Spike! In the ultimate Odd Couple scenario, the evil vampire Spike rooms with Giles temporarily, but he is kept chained up in the bathtub watching soap operas on the TV while drinking pig blood from a coffee mug.
Spike is seeking refuge from military men who are out to kill him and has inside information for the gang about Initiative if they are willing to take him in. That, coupled with a military chip implanted in his brain that keeps him from attacking or biting anyone, leads the Scoobies to allow him in and stay with Giles, though neither of them is very happy about it.
Buffy Became Engaged To Spike
Buffy and Spike certainly have an interesting relationship with one another. But, it was a shock to fans everywhere when they got engaged at Giles' apartment.
That's right, during Spike's brief stint of being Giles' unwanted roommate, Buffy and Spike fall in love and become engaged. Not by choice, mind you, but rather due to Willow casting a horrible spell gone wrong. This magic spell unknowingly causes many major problems at Giles' apartment, Buffy and Spike's romance being the least of them, though Buffy may disagree with that.
Where The Gang Defeats Adam
Though there are many throwaway villains throughout the show, each season also has a main villain, or Big Bad, that spans the entire season's arc.
In season four of Buffy, the Big Bad is Adam, a half-human, half-cyborg, military experiment gone wrong. After several encounters with Adam, and consequently failed attempts at destroying him, the Scooby Gang is finally able to defeat the Big Bad Adam with an enjoining spell conjured up in none other than Giles' apartment.
Whistler Guides Buffy Here
Speaking of Big Bads, the Big Bads of Buffy's season two are three vampires, the aforementioned Angel (who was evil at this time) and Spike, as well as Spike's vampire lover Drusilla. Their plan to end the world, and all who inhabit it, is to resurrect an ancient demon name Acathla, who was sent forth to swallow the world.
This plan almost comes to fruition in the season finale, if it weren't for the help of The Whistler. The Whistler is a half-demon, half-human agent who used to serve the Powers That Be, but now seeks to bring balance in the universe. Buffy encounters the Whistler at Giles' apartment for the first time and he guides her into fulfilling the Twilight Prophecy and defeating Angelus by restoring his soul, thus averting the apocalypse, yet again.
Giles & Joyce Flirt
In a bit of a light-hearted turn from the previous entries, Giles' apartment is also the location where Buffy's mother, Joyce Summers, and Rupert Giles flirt with one another.
Buffy is forced to sell chocolates for a school fundraiser and, in order to get it done as quickly as possible, she sells half to her mother and the other half to Giles. What Buffy doesn't know is that these are magical chocolates that cause whoever eats them to revert back to heir teenage selves. When Buffy goes to Giles' apartment searching for her mother, she finds them drinking, flirting and listening to rock-and-roll music together.
Eyghon Possesses Jenny Calendar
Miss Calendar was a computer science teacher at Sunnydale High School who didn't get along with Giles, at first. Over the course of many episodes, however, Rupert Giles and Jenny Calendar fall in love.
Unfortunately, being part of The Scooby Gang, especially the Watcher of the Slayer, doesn't leave a lot of room for a love life - just ask Buffy. There were many hindrances throughout Giles and Ms. Calendar's romance, the biggest one of them being the demon, Eyghon the Sleepwalker. Eyghon is a demon who possesses the body of a dead or unconscious host. They take over the body of Ms. Calendar and seduces Giles in an attempt to murder him.
Giles Became A Fyarl Demon
Perhaps the most traumatizing event to happen in Giles' apartment is when he got turned into a demon. Giles runs into an old colleague, Ethan Rayne, who has since become a chaos-worshiping warlock, and Rayne casts a spell on Giles that turns him into a Fyarl demon. Giles wakes up in his apartment the next morning as this Fyarl demon and he is not only unrecognizable, but also incomprehensible.
Buffy visits Giles' apartment to find it trashed and believes him to be missing, most likely taken by the demon that has been seen wandering the streets of Sunnydale. When she finally catches up with the demon, she is moments away from killing it, but fortunately, Buffy is able to realize that the demon is actually Giles and the Scoobies have Rayne cast a reversal spell to turn him back into his normal human form.