Caleb (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
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 Nathan Fillion as Caleb |
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Caleb, played by Nathan Fillion, is a fictional character in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer created by Joss Whedon. Caleb is a sociopathic,misogynistic, defrocked priest who is serves as one of the "Big Bads" of Season Seven.
He was introduced, according to Joss Whedon, because the mutable, non-corporeal nature of the First "meant that we didn't really have anything to push against. We needed... a sidekick. Somebody physical that we can see from episode to episode."[1] Whedon describes him as "the creepiest priest," adding, "he is the most bald-faced misogynist we've had since, well, since last year, with Warren."[2]
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[edit] Biography
Prior to becoming the right-hand man of the First, Caleb was a serial killer responsible for the deaths of at least two girls, whom he lured with his sermons and his priest's collar. Among his victims was a showgirl in Knoxville and a girl named Betty.
While remaining unseen until the end of the series, Caleb is revealed to be one of the prime causes for the events of the Seventh Season. In an effort to eliminate all threats to the First's resurgence, he indoctrinates and directs Bringers to systematically kill Potential Slayers around the world. He also orders the bombing of the Watchers' Council Headquarters in London, causing the deaths of Quentin Travers and all Watchers and Council Operatives present.
[edit] Sunnydale
In the episode "Dirty Girls", Caleb murders potential slayers Dianne (by snapping her neck) and Molly (by stabbing her in the stomach), effortlessly beats down Buffy, Faith, and Spike, and breaks Rona's arm before violently blinding Xander in one eye by forcing his thumb into Xander's left eye socket, during an aborted initial attack on Caleb's vineyard.
Despite a dramatic arrival in Sunnydale when he bested Buffy and her army of Potential Slayers on several occasions, Caleb is eventually killed in a final confrontation with Buffy with the assistance of the newly-arrived Angel, who takes Caleb down for a moment with an unexpected punch when he seems about to get the upper hand, although he later stands to the side to allow Buffy to finish Caleb herself. With Angel watching, Buffy knocks Caleb down, and then, when he tries to get back up, she slices Caleb in two with a scythe from the crotch up within the opening minutes of the series finale, "Chosen".
Later in the episode, the First Evil appears to Buffy, manifesting under the guise of the slain Caleb. The First lectures Buffy on the futility of her campaign against it, and it is this meeting that encourages Buffy to come up with her plan to activate the remaining Potentials to full Slayer status using the essence of the scythe taken from the vineyard two episodes previous.
[edit] Powers and abilities
Caleb provided Buffy and her allies with a villain who was both a physical threat (in contrast to the non-corporeal First Evil) and a recognizable individual (as opposed to the nameless Bringers and Turok-Han, who were formidable but also interchangeable, and the First itself, which had no fixed form).
He is given extraordinary strength by the First when they "merge". According to the First, Caleb is the only human strong enough to be its vessel. He likes to reenact his killings by asking the First to take on the form of the girls he killed, so that he may "kill them again."
[edit] Beliefs
Caleb delivers quasi-biblical quotes, frequently even making allusions to his belief that the First is actually God. Caleb seems to quote the Old Testament more often than the New Testament due to the more sexist views that can be interpreted in the Old Testament, for example his views on women being evil relates to his views on Eve, the biblical first female (in Jewish and Christian book of Genesis), and how she gave Adam, the first created man and first created human, the forbidden fruit. When the First, in the guise of Buffy, asks him if he thinks it (The First) is God, Caleb believes the First to be beyond such definition. He states plainly in his debut episode, "And I don't truck with Satan, that was just me havin' fun back there. Satan's a little man."
When asked about Caleb's religious connections, Joss Whedon said, "I'm not coming down against priests. This guy clearly is not one."[3]
Caleb also comments further on his admiration of the First, when it (under the guise of Buffy) vocalizes its envy of humans' ability to feel lust and engage in primal sexual acts, whilst several of the Scoobies engage in such activity elsewhere. He dismisses them all as "sinners," commenting enthusiastically that the First is miles beyond that, for it is "sin" itself.
[edit] Writing and Acting
- Nathan Fillion is one of three actors who had appeared on Joss Whedon's Firefly who later played a villain on one of Whedon's other shows; Gina Torres and Adam Baldwin went on to play Jasmine and Marcus Hamilton, respectively, in Angel. Summer Glau, also of Firefly, played a guest appearance on Angel as well, playing a nameless prima ballerina in the episode "Waiting in the Wings."
- Caleb was referred to by Buffy writers as "The Second," a reference to his boss's nickname, "The First."[citation needed]
[edit] Appearances
Caleb appears in:
Caleb appeared as a guest in 5 episodes:
- Season 7 (2002, 2003) - "Dirty Girls"; "Empty Places"; "Touched"; "End of Days"; "Chosen"
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ P, Ken (June 23, 2003), An Interview with Joss Whedon, <http://movies.ign.com/articles/425/425492p10.html>. Retrieved on 07//18/2007
- ^ Miller, Laura (May 20, 2003), The man behind the Slayer, <http://dir.salon.com/story/ent/tv/int/2003/05/20/whedon/index.html?pn=3>. Retrieved on 07//17/2007
- ^ Miller, Laura (May 20, 2003), The man behind the Slayer, <http://dir.salon.com/story/ent/tv/int/2003/05/20/whedon/index.html?pn=3>. Retrieved on 07//17/2007
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