- Natalie - The Vampire Slayer / A Buffy RPG site

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Alexander "Xander" Harris
The Watcher
(Played by - Corvus, the Director)

The Zeppo no more, Xander has graduated from being a stalwart scooby, to his new position as a trusted Watcher in the new Watcher's Council. Xander was a natural choice, despite his often lax study-skills, due to his years of on-the-job training at the sides of Buffy, Willow, and Giles. Xander is brave, if not a natural, when it comes to fighting, but his observational skills have been finely honed, particularly when it comes to matters of the heart, and the bonds between friends... and enemies.

Following the defeat of the First Evil, and the destruction of Sunnydale, Xander, and the rest of the group took a little time to rest, to heal, and to mourn for those they had lost. Xander in particular was terribly upset by the death of Anya. The loss was all the more painful for him because the two of them had made great strides to patch up their broken relationship. Buffy, Willow, Dawn, Faith and even Andrew made sure to let him know that they were there for him, and despite his grief, he forged on. Within days, the group journeyed to England and began to gather the shattered remnants of the once-mighty Watchers Council. Together, the group managed to track down the few surviving Watchers, as well as the small group of Watchers-in-training, and also managed to secure the old Council's various assets and claims, which were quite significant. Giles also approached Xander and suggested that because of his knowledge and experience, he would make an excellent Watcher. Heartened by Giles' confidence in him, and also seeking to keep an eye on Buffy and Dawn for a while longer, Xander agreed.

These tasks, along with some rather intensive training in the finer points of being a Watcher, took the better part of a year. Upon his graduation of sorts, Xander was presented with his own sizeable collection of occult books and manuscripts, and an enchanted glass-eye ( to replace the one blinded by Caleb in the battle against the First Evil ) which Willow had happened upon while cataloging the contents of a vault belonging to one of the more noteable Watchers of the 19th century. One of the eye's enchantments grants Xander normal vision while he wears it, but he can only wear it for about 12-14 hours at a time before he starts suffering from headaches. Thus, Xander typically removes the eye when he sleeps.

Now a fully-fledged Watcher, Xander has been charged with the training of Natalie Osbourne, one of the many Slayers who popped up when Willow used the ancient Scythe of the Guardians to bestow the powers of the Slayer upon every girl with Slayer potential. What made Natalie's training so vital was the fact that she has started attending classes at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia... which is home to a brand-spanking-new Hellmouth of its very own. In preperation for his first assignment as a Watcher, Giles assisted Xander in a search for a new place of residence. After looking at several places, they came across a nice home on the outskirts of town, complete with an in-ground pool ( score! ), and purchased it soon after. Giles also helped Xander to acquire a job on Marshall's campus. Predictably enough, Xander would now work as a librarian in the old Morrow library, where he gets a fair-degree of privacy much of the time, and also has room to store his occult books in one of the unused collection rooms.

True to her Slayer nature, Natalie immediately took to roaming the campus at night, keeping an eye out for people acting strangely. And, on the very first night, following her classes, she came upon a pack of 3 Vampires who were about to attack a young woman emerging from Smith Hall, an event that Xander had anticipated and observed from a short distance, preparing to rush in if the need arose. Natalie intervened, and the shocked vampires soon found that they were dealing with a full-fledged Slayer, albiet an inexperienced one. After severely battering two of the vamps, Natalie cornered a third, and was assisted in the fine art of staking by the vamp's would-be victim, Heather.

The two fleeing vamps were totally unprepared when they ran neck-first into Xander's trusty axe and met a dusty fate. Just seconds later, Natalie and her new friend Heather emerged, somewhat puzzled. Xander quickly introduced himself, and took the two of them to dinner at Applebees, where he gave Natalie answers to questions which had been plaguing her for over a year, and explained the nature of all the changes she had been through. Xander offered Natalie a choice... to live as she had been, since the lot of a Slayer no longer required a life of fighting and eventual sacrifice, what with so many Slayers around nowadays. Or, she could follow her instincts, and fight to save the innocent from things both dark and evil, which would be plentiful with a hellmouth so close by. Natalie needed no convincing, reasoning that fighting evil was the right thing to do. Xander was both relieved and apprehensive when she made her choice to become a Slayer under his watchful eye. Fortunately, Xander had a lot of experience upon which to draw as he helped Natalie forge her new destiny.

For the better part of a year, Xander did exactly that. He trained and encouraged Natalie, and with his aid she became an increasingly dangerous enemy to all supernatural beings with an eye cast towards doing harm. What's more, Xander also became Natalie's friend, and offered sage advice when things became difficult, especially in the case of her rather hostile relationship with the arrogant demon-fighter, Mitran. He also managed to find the time for something resembling a social life, and he soon started dating Lydia Rose, the Wiccan owner of a local magic-shop. When the threat of Edgar Torgeir Montgomery raised its head and threatened an apocalyptic end for the world as we knew it, Xander refused to give into despair, and gathered the allies needed to win the fight. When the Order of Aurelius surfaced some months later, Xander continued to do what was needed to combat them, even after being injured at Beth's hands (or rather, voice), and being forced to endure the temporary presence of Spike, he managed to recover in time (thanks to Lydia) to help lead the strike-force that would finally end the Order's threat.

With the Order defeated and the presence of David Sullivan established, Xander was released from his duties as Natalie's Watcher, and was free to move onto his next assgnment as the Watcher to a pair of twin-Slayers in Mexico. Determined to continue to explore their life as a couple, Lydia offered to go with him before he had a chance to ask, and Xander accepeted. With Lydia at his side, Xander has spent the past year in Mexico training his charges, a task made somewhat easier by virtue of the fact that he doesn't also have to worry about a nearby Hellmouth.

Personality

Xander was once the consummate clown... using humor to stave off his fear and insecurities, and to try to make everyone around him more at ease. He occasionally came off as a bit thick at times, and was often very much the normal Joe. He still has those qualities in abundance, but he's a little more serious now, and a little more focused. A great deal of that comes from the things he's been through. He's seen friends get hurt, he's seen them die, and he's been pretty close to death himself. He's been beaten, terrified, transformed into a spider-eating manservant, had an eye gouged out by an evil Preacher, and been hit on by almost every female-demon between here and Southern California. He's also helped save the world more than just a few times. Through it all, Xander has fought on, never letting his fear get the best of him when the chips were down, and eventually overcoming many of his old self-doubts. Xander is a Watcher now, not because he knows how to counter every single spell or hex, nor because he knows the names of a hundred different demonic entities in a dozen ancient languages. No, he's a Watcher because of his almost boundless courage, and because of his innate knowledge of that greatest of all mysteries... the Human Heart.

Skills and Abilities

If a sense of humor could be called a super-power, then Xander would certainly qualify for a spot on the Justice-League. Unfortunately, humor is only so useful when facing off against Vampires and Demons. And, while he became a courageous fighter during all those years spent fighting alongside Buffy and the gang, he never really perfected any particular fighting techniques. To that end, part of his training as a Watcher involved making Xander a more well-rounded fighter, which would not only keep him alive, but also help him train a new Slayer. By the time he had finished his training, Xander had cobbled together a hybrid fighting-style that incorporated some Kickboxing, a little Judo, and a touch of Akido. He also further honed his skills with the axe, and found time to work on some basic fencing. Xander also sharpened his research skills, and boned up on some magic with Willow's assistance. While Xander can't really quick-cast any actual spells, he does, however, now know how to dispell a few of the more common and less dangerous spells he may come across. And, lest we forget, Xander's construction background made him one heck of a carpenter.

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This site is maintained by Randall Lilly
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Last Revised: March 21, 2007

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (and all of its related characters and concepts) is a copyright © of Fox Broadcasting. The Buffy RPG is a copyright © of EDEN games. All materials here are reproduced without their express permission