Wesley Wyndam-Pryce

Lore & Background

Wesley is introduced in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 3 (1998–1999) episode "Bad Girls" as the new Watcher of Buffy and Faith. Pompous and ineffective, he fails to elicit any respect from either his Slayers or his predecessor, Rupert Giles, all of whom frequently ridicule and undermine him. He develops a crush on high school senior Cordelia Chase, and their mutual flirting throughout the season culminates in a pair of awkward kisses in the finale "Graduation Day, Part Two".

When Faith goes rogue after accidentally killing a human being, the Scooby Gang neglect to inform Wesley, and his subsequent interference ruins Faith's brief chance at redemption. When Wesley fails to convince the Watchers' Council to help save the life of her vampire lover Angel, an enraged Buffy severs all ties with them. Despite this, Wesley offers his assistance in the fight against the Mayor, proving entirely useless in battle when he is knocked down almost instantly.

Wesley reappears in the first season (1999–2000) of spin-off show Angel, in the episode "Parting Gifts". Introduced as a self-proclaimed "rogue demon-hunter", Wesley reveals that he was fired from the Watchers' Council for incompetence, but is soon accepted into supernatural detective agency Angel Investigations, working alongside Angel and Cordelia, effectively filling the gap left by the death of Doyle.

Reader's Guide

Wesley appears in comic books and novels based on the Buffy and Angel television series. He appears in numerous Angel novels as a member of Angel Investigations, but has a more prominent role in some; in Stranger to the Sun he falls under a mystical slumber after receiving a mysterious package in the mail and becomes trapped in a nightmare, while Book of the Dead sees his love of reading get the better of him after being sucked into a book about the occult.

The comic book "Wesley: Spotlight" focuses on Wesley's struggles to save the life of Fred's love interest and (unbeknownst to Wesley) future murderer, Knox. The Lost Slayer is a series of Buffy novels set in an alternate future where Wesley is Watcher to the current Slayer, Anna. Angel: After the Fall (2007-2011), a canonical comic book continuation of the television series, reveals that Wesley was unable to move on after his death due to the standard perpetuity clause in his Wolfram & Hart contract.

Now incorporeal, Wesley acts as the last remaining link to the Senior Partners, who have sent Angel and all of Los Angeles to hell as punishment for their attack in season 5. Following the destruction of the Wolfram & Hart building at the hands of a now vampiric Gunn, Wesley's ghost fades away. He convinces the White Room to send him back to Hell, where his sudden appearance causes Illyria to change back and forth between Illyria and Fred's personae.

When Angel is confronted by Gunn, now a deluded vampire who believes he is the champion of the Shanshu prophecy, Wesley delivers Angel a vision from the Senior Partners explaining that the prophecy has always concerned Angel. When Angel realizes that the Senior Partners need him alive for their plans, he devises a plan to get himself killed, thus forcing them to rewind time to the last moment before Los Angeles was sent to hell. However, this would not reverse Wesley's death.

Wesley is resigned to his fate, believing that he has nothing more to live for now that Fred is gone, and walks away, but not before asking Spike to take care of Illyria. In the new timeline, Angel names a wing of the Los Angeles public library in memory of Wesley and Fred.

Did You Know?

• Wesley's father Roger Wyndam-Pryce first appears in the Angel season 5 episode 'Lineage', where Wesley shoots him dead, only to discover he was a cyborg copy.
• Wesley's throat was slit by Holtz after he kidnapped Connor, and Angel later attempted to kill him while he was in recovery at the hospital.