Riley Finn is a
fictional character
In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, ...
created by
Joss Whedon
Joseph Hill Whedon (; born June 23, 1964) is an American filmmaker, composer, and comic book writer. He is the founder of Mutant Enemy Productions, co-founder of Bellwether Pictures, and is best known as the creator of several television series: ...
for the
television series
A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...
''
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. It is based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film), 1992 film of the same name, also written by W ...
''. Portrayed by
Marc Blucas, Riley was introduced in the 1999 season four premiere episode, "
The Freshman", and Blucas was part of the series credited cast for the second part of season four and the first part of season five. Most notably, Riley is one of three long-term romantic interests for series' heroine
Buffy Summers
Buffy Anne Summers is the title character of the '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' franchise. She first appeared in the 1992 film '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' before going on to appear in The WB/UPN 1997–2003 television series and subsequent 1998 ...
(
Sarah Michelle Gellar
Sarah Michelle Prinze ( ; born April 14, 1977) is an American actress. After being spotted at the age of four in New York City, she made her screen acting debut in the television film ''An Invasion of Privacy'' (1983). A leading role on the te ...
).
Whedon intended Riley to be the antithesis of Buffy's boyfriend of the past three seasons,
Angel
In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God.
Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...
(
David Boreanaz
David Paul Boreanaz ( born May 16, 1969) is an American actor, television producer, and director known for playing the roles of vampire-turned-private investigator Angel on The WB/UPN ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' supernatural drama (1997–2003 ...
), who now headed his
own spin-off show. In stark contrast to broody, often pensive Angel, Riley is optimistic, trustworthy and reliable, and in theory presents Buffy with her first opportunity for a "normal" romantic relationship. However, Riley also leads a double life: he is both
teaching assistant
A teaching assistant or teacher's aide (TA) or education assistant (EA) or team teacher (TT) is an individual who assists a teacher with instructional responsibilities. TAs include ''graduate teaching assistants'' (GTAs), who are graduate school ...
at
UC Sunnydale
Sunnydale is the fictional setting for the U.S. television drama ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' (1997–2003). Series creator Joss Whedon conceived the town as a representation of a generic California city, as well as a narrative parody of the all ...
and a member of The Initiative, a government-sponsored
special operations
Special operations (S.O.) are military activities conducted, according to NATO, by "specially designated, organized, selected, trained, and equipped forces using unconventional techniques and modes of employment". Special operations may include ...
team which both researches and combats the demons which roam Sunnydale. This allows him to interact with Buffy both in her civilian life and assist her with her duties as a
Slayer
Slayer was an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California. The band was formed in 1981 by guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style ...
; while Buffy has supernatural powers associated with her role, Riley must rely instead on his extensive military training.
In the show's fifth season, writers experimented with making Riley a more complex character, and so depicted Riley beginning to "fray around the edges". This storyline
culminated in Riley being written out of the series in 2000. In 2002, Blucas returned for a
final televised appearance in the show's sixth season, where he is seen to have moved on from Buffy and married. Subsequently, the character appears in
Expanded Universe material such as the
canonical
The adjective canonical is applied in many contexts to mean "according to the canon" the standard, rule or primary source that is accepted as authoritative for the body of knowledge or literature in that context. In mathematics, "canonical example ...
comic book continuation to the series, ''
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight
''Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight'' is a comic book series published by Dark Horse Comics from 2007 to 2011. The series serves as a canonical continuation of the television series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'', and follows the events of that ...
'' (2007–11). In ''Season Eight'', the precise nature of Riley's role in the storyline is unclear for much of the story; writer
Jane Espenson
Jane Espenson (born July 14, 1964) is an American television writer and producer.
Espenson has worked on both situation comedies and serial dramas. She had a five-year stint as a writer and producer on ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' and shared a ...
, however, wrote a ''Riley'' one-shot comic book focusing on Riley and his wife.
Character history
A native of
Huxley, Iowa
Huxley is a city in Story County, Iowa, United States. The population was 4,244 at the time of the 2020 census. It is part of the Ames, Iowa Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is a part of the larger Ames-Boone, Iowa Combined Statistical Area. ...
, Riley is
Buffy Summers
Buffy Anne Summers is the title character of the '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' franchise. She first appeared in the 1992 film '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' before going on to appear in The WB/UPN 1997–2003 television series and subsequent 1998 ...
' boyfriend for parts of seasons four and five. He is first introduced as Professor Walsh's TA in a psych class Buffy and Willow are in. Riley realizes his feelings for Buffy after punching Parker Abrahams for an inappropriate comment Parker makes regarding their night together. Even though he leads a double life as part of a secret government organization known as The Initiative, Buffy finds some normalcy in Riley as a regular college guy and someone to whom she could relate. Initially, each keeps the other from knowing their respective secret lives, but the truth comes out during the events in the
Emmy
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
-nominated episode "
Hush
Hush may refer to:
Film and television
* ''Hush'' (1921 film), starring Clara Kimball Young
* ''Hush'' (1998 film), starring Gwyneth Paltrow
* ''Hush!'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film directed by Ryosuke Hashiguchi
* ''Hush'' (2005 film), starring ...
".
Buffy and Riley fight demons together and continue saving each other's lives and the world, although Riley is never quite let into Buffy's inner circle. Initially, Riley automatically assumes that all
demons
A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in religion, occultism, literature, fiction, mythology, and folklore; as well as in media such as comics, video games, movies, anime, ...
are evil, but discovers that demons are capable of both good and evil just as humans are after assisting in saving
Oz from the Initiative complex. Having been torn between the Scooby Gang and the Initiative for some time, Riley decides to leave the Initiative upon discovering the extent of its corruption, and spends the remainder of the season in hiding within the ruins of
Sunnydale High.
The Initiative was destroyed at the end of Season Four, and Riley is relieved of his military standing. He is left at loose ends, and his behavior becomes reckless. Over time, Riley begins to see himself as below Buffy in strength, and begins to push his body well past its limits. In "
Out of My Mind", it is discovered that the drugs that
Professor Walsh had secretly fed him are causing Riley's
pain receptors
Nociception (also nocioception, from Latin ''nocere'' 'to harm or hurt') is the sensory nervous system's process of encoding noxious stimuli. It deals with a series of events and processes required for an organism to receive a painful stimulus, ...
to shut down and his
heartbeat to spike, and could eventually have killed him. Even with this knowledge, Riley initially refuses to accept medical treatment from the
government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
out of
paranoia
Paranoia is an instinct or thought process that is believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of delusion and irrationality. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy concer ...
, though Buffy eventually convinces him to do so. Rendered a normal human by the procedure, Riley's insecurities and feelings of weakness only increase, and he becomes increasingly frustrated with Buffy's seeming inability to open up to and be honest with him.
Seeking thrills, and wondering what Buffy seems to find so appealing about vampires – Buffy having allowed both
Angel
In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God.
Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...
and
Dracula
''Dracula'' is a novel by Bram Stoker, published in 1897. As an epistolary novel, the narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist, but opens with solicitor Jonathan Harker taking ...
to drink from her – Riley begins to let
vampires
A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mischief or deaths ...
feed from him, which Buffy discovers in the episode "
Into the Woods
''Into the Woods'' is a 1987 musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine.
The musical intertwines the plots of several Brothers Grimm fairy tale
A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story ...
" when
Spike
Spike, spikes, or spiking may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Books
* ''The Spike'' (novel), a novel by Arnaud de Borchgrave
* ''The Spike'' (book), a nonfiction book by Damien Broderick
* ''The Spike'', a starship in Peter F. Hamilto ...
reveals Riley at the vampire's nest. His behavior, as well as Spike's manipulations and a sense that Buffy would never truly love him, lead to their breakup. Riley leaves
Sunnydale
Sunnydale is the fictional setting for the U.S. television drama ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' (1997–2003). Series creator Joss Whedon conceived the town as a representation of a generic California city, as well as a narrative parody of the all ...
to join another black ops army unit fighting demons elsewhere.
Riley returns in the season six episode "
As You Were", in which he shows up unexpectedly with his new wife, fellow demon hunter Sam (
Ivana Miličević
Ivana Miličević (; born April 26, 1974) is a Bosnian Croat-American actress and model. She is best known for her starring roles in the Cinemax action drama series ''Banshee'' (2013–2016) and The CW science fiction drama series ''The 100'' (20 ...
), tracking a demon about to hatch eggs that could wipe out Sunnydale. When Riley learns that Buffy has been sleeping with Spike, he consoles her on her struggles with her life, and forgives her after she apologizes for what happened between them. The battle done, Riley leaves Sunnydale, never to return again. He is, however, mentioned in the season seven episode "
The Killer in Me
"The Killer in Me" is the 13th episode of the seventh and final season of the television series '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer''.
Plot
Giles prepares to take all of the Potentials – except Kennedy, who is sick with the flu – on a trip to the d ...
" where Buffy attempts to contact him for advice on the malfunctioning chip in Spike's head. Riley then contacts soldiers from the Initiative, who help diagnose Spike's condition and then discuss with Buffy her decision to remove the chip in order to save Spike's life.
In
canonical
The adjective canonical is applied in many contexts to mean "according to the canon" the standard, rule or primary source that is accepted as authoritative for the body of knowledge or literature in that context. In mathematics, "canonical example ...
comic book
A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
continuation ''
Season Eight'' issue
"Time of Your Life, Part IV", it is revealed that Riley is one of villain
Twilight
Twilight is light produced by sunlight scattering in the upper atmosphere, when the Sun is below the horizon, which illuminates the lower atmosphere and the Earth's surface. The word twilight can also refer to the periods of time when this il ...
's followers, as he is present in the laboratory with
Warren Mears
Warren Mears is a fictional character that is portrayed by Adam Busch in the American television series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer''. The character also appears in canonical comic book series continuation of that series. He is the main antagonist ...
,
Amy Madison
Amy Madison is a fictional character on the television series '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer,'' portrayed by Elizabeth Anne Allen. The character appears in every season of ''Buffy'' except Season Five (during which time the character was stuck in ...
, and Twilight, and bears his mark. Samantha Finn did not appear in Season Eight. Pretending to be Buffy's "inside man", he arranged for their rendezvous in New York City. Later, seen in
"Retreat, Part II", Riley is with Twilight and his other followers as they try and track the Scooby Gang through their use of magic; Riley tries to convince Twilight that the results could be a mistake of the scanning technology. He is also intrigued by Twilight's remark that he "knows" Buffy. During a large battle between the Slayers and Twilight's forces, Buffy recovers an injured Riley, revealing to the other characters that Riley was a double agent for her in an attempt to figure out Twilight's plans and identity.
Riley also appears in the first issue of the follow-up series ''
Season Nine
A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...
'' (2011–2013); the structure of "Freefall, Part I" suggests that Riley—like Spike, Xander, Willow and others—could have been Buffy's possible
one-night stand
A one-night stand or one-night sex is a single sexual encounter in which there is an expectation that there shall be no further relations between the sexual participants. It draws its name from the common practice of a one-night stand, a single ...
after the party she hosts at her apartment in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
. Riley remains married to Sam. With the end of magic, Riley now uses his military resources to watch for ordinary terrorists. It is later revealed in "Apart (of Me)" that Buffy did not have sex with anyone. Riley does not appear for the rest of the season. Concurrent with ''
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Ten
''Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Ten'' is the sequel to the '' Season Nine'' comic book series, a canonical continuation of the television series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer''. The series is published by Dark Horse Comics and ran from March 2014 ...
'', in ''Angel & Faith'' #4 (2014), Faith attempts to leave San Francisco but is contacted by her boss, the Slayer
Kennedy, with a mission to find Riley, who has been reported missing in a South American jungle. In the next arc "Lost & Found" Faith finds both Sam and Riley. Riley is willing to forgive her after she saved his life from the tribal vampires in the jungle and says she should stop focusing on seeking forgiveness to make herself feel better and just be the kind of person who would not do those things anymore. He also suggests she talk over the past with Buffy.
Writing and acting
Marc Blucas was asked how the character was described to him during the audition process, he replied that "They said that Riley is a nice, charming guy, and there's going to be some kind of dichotomy, some kind of double role going on. But that was never really specified." In contrast to both
Angel
In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God.
Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...
and
Spike
Spike, spikes, or spiking may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Books
* ''The Spike'' (novel), a novel by Arnaud de Borchgrave
* ''The Spike'' (book), a nonfiction book by Damien Broderick
* ''The Spike'', a starship in Peter F. Hamilto ...
, Riley held out the possibility of normality in Buffy's life. He is also notable in that he is the only boyfriend of Buffy who was accepted by and developed a friendship with
Xander Harris
Alexander Lavelle Harris is a fictional character created for the action-horror/fantasy television series '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' (1997–2003). He was developed by Joss Whedon and portrayed throughout the television series by Nicholas Bre ...
, who usually displayed jealousy of the males in her life.
Whedon defended the character of Riley Finn, "The important thing for us was to find a character that was the anti-Angel and to have Buffy go through something very different, part of which was the question, 'How do I get over Angel?' That was the same thing the audience was going through. We knew it wasn't going to be easy and it was very hard trying to find somebody. But Marc
lucas
Lucas or LUCAS may refer to:
People
* Lucas (surname)
* Lucas (given name)
Arts and entertainment
* Luca Family Singers, also known as "lucas ligner en torsk"
* ''Lucas'' (album) (2007), an album by Skeletons and the Kings of All Cities
* ''L ...
has a quality that I love very much: he has sort of an un-David-like, firm, strong, trustworthy quality. I always think of him as
Gary Cooper
Gary Cooper (born Frank James Cooper; May 7, 1901May 13, 1961) was an American actor known for his strong, quiet screen persona and understated acting style. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice and had a further three nominations, a ...
." During Season Five, writer/co-executive producer, Marti Noxon, noted that they were making Riley a more tortured complex character, "He's starting to fray around the edges. That's very compelling to me – that this straight guy is starting to get a little strange."
["High Five", from '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer magazine'' #18 (UK, March 2001), page 6.]
Actor
Christian Kane
Christian Kane (born Christopher Michael Short) is an American actor and singer-songwriter. He is known for his roles in the television shows ''Angel'', '' Leverage'', '' The Librarians'', and '' Into the West'', and the movies '' Just Married'', ...
also auditioned for Riley Finn. Kane went on to play the role of
Lindsey McDonald Lindsey may refer to :
Places Canada
* Lindsey Lake, Nova Scotia
England
* Parts of Lindsey, one of the historic Parts of Lincolnshire and an administrative county from 1889 to 1974
** East Lindsey, an administrative district in Lincolnshire, a ...
on the spin-off show ''
Angel
In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God.
Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...
''. Kane says he played his audition for Riley "perhaps a little less than wholesome", which he feels resulted in
Joss Whedon
Joseph Hill Whedon (; born June 23, 1964) is an American filmmaker, composer, and comic book writer. He is the founder of Mutant Enemy Productions, co-founder of Bellwether Pictures, and is best known as the creator of several television series: ...
later casting him as a darker character.
Appearances
Canonical appearances
Riley has appeared in:
; ''
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. It is based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film), 1992 film of the same name, also written by W ...
'': Riley was introduced in the show's fourth season as a recurring character and became a regular in the episode "
Doomed" and continued on as a regular until season five's "
Into the Woods
''Into the Woods'' is a 1987 musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine.
The musical intertwines the plots of several Brothers Grimm fairy tale
A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story ...
", and appeared once afterward. He appeared in 31 episodes. His guest appearances include:
* Season 4: "
The Freshman", "
Fear, Itself", "
Beer Bad
"Beer Bad" is the fifth episode of the fourth season of the television series '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer''. It is written by Tracey Forbes and directed by David Solomon. It was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Hairstyling in a Seri ...
", "
Wild at Heart", "
The Initiative", "
Pangs
"Pangs" is the eighth episode of season 4 of the television show '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer''. It was written by Jane Espenson, directed by Michael Lange, and first broadcast on November 23, 1999.
On Thanksgiving, Buffy encounters the restless ...
", "
Something Blue", "
Hush
Hush may refer to:
Film and television
* ''Hush'' (1921 film), starring Clara Kimball Young
* ''Hush'' (1998 film), starring Gwyneth Paltrow
* ''Hush!'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film directed by Ryosuke Hashiguchi
* ''Hush'' (2005 film), starring ...
"
* Season 6: "
As You Were"
; ''
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight
''Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight'' is a comic book series published by Dark Horse Comics from 2007 to 2011. The series serves as a canonical continuation of the television series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'', and follows the events of that ...
'': Riley has also appeared in the canonical comic book continuation. He has appeared in the issues:
* "
Time of Your Life, Part IV", "
Retreat, Part II", "Turbulence", "Riley: Commitment through Distance, Virtue through Sin"
Notes and references
{{DEFAULTSORT:Finn, Riley
Buffy the Vampire Slayer characters
Fictional United States Army personnel
Fictional American secret agents
Fictional commanders
Fictional vampire hunters
Fictional characters with superhuman strength
Fictional characters from Iowa
Fictional special forces personnel
Fictional private military members
Television characters introduced in 1999
Fictional demon hunters
Fictional schoolteachers
American male characters in television