Anya Jenkins

Context

Anya was one of the important characters in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Which was a cult 1990s supernatural adventure TV show that significantly moved the genre and format forward.

Background

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Powers and Abilities

For a thousand years, the demon Anyanka wielded the power of the wish.

She brought ruin upon the heads of unfaithful men. She offered destruction and chaos for the pleasure of the lower beings. She was feared and worshipped across the mortal globe.

The power of the wish made her a righteous sword to smite the unfaithful on behalf of their scorned mates.

That’s all changed, though, and now she’s a young woman with a nose for money. She recently ran a magic shop which she co-owns with Rupert Giles, and still has many contacts throughout the magical (literal, in some cases) underworld.

On a good day, she’s also a fair hand with spellcasting, as long as she can read the text. She also is a decent bowler, and a fair hand with math and computers.

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History

Anya Christina Emmanuella Jenkins, 20 years old, born on the fourth of July, and don’t think there weren’t jokes about that her whole life, mister, ’cause there were !

“Who’s our little patriot ?” they’d say when she was younger and therefore smaller and shorter than she is now.

And when she was seven, she had a pet dachshund that died from choking on a wiener, which she still finds ironic.

Ever since she moved to Sunnydale from southeastern Indiana, where she was raised by both a mother and a father, she has worked at the Magic Box with Rupert Giles. She sold items only to people with money who wished to buy them.

And she occasionally bakes muffins on her own, because that’s what normal women do.

… OK, maybe not. Let’s try that again.

Video

A fan montage of good lines from Anya.

History

In or around AD880, there was a woman named Aud in the now-lost village of Sjornjost, Iceland. She had created something of a rabbit ranch in her town.

Kind and generous (and honest, and literal-minded) to a fault, she was considering giving away some of the younger bunnies. That was to improve the morale of her neighbors—most of whom disliked her—just for the good feeling of helping others.

Scorned

Aud’s husband (or, perhaps just sweetheart) Olaf arrived one afternoon late. He covered up a night’s indiscretion with bar matron Rannveig with a pathetic alibi about fighting off an army of trolls. He slips, however, but tries to talk himself back into Aud’s good graces. She apologizes for her suspicion, beckoning him to sit down for dinner.

Behind the scenes, however, young Aud begins to work some of the magic she has practiced.

While the relationship with magic would prove to be long-lived, the relationship with Olaf and, in fact, Olaf’s normal life, was brought to an abrupt end with that meal. Fury deep in her heart, Aud tapped her abilities and raised a demon (using Eelsbane in a Thorton’s Hope spell) to transform Olaf into a troll.

Olaf would eventually adjust to his new condition, but Aud still did not feel quite satisfied. In due course, she began casting more direct spells on other “worthy” targets (unfaithful men), like boils in the genital region, and that sort of thing.

So, Aud became relatively content, Olaf was settling into his new life as a troll (though the villagers of Sjornjost had some issues with a troll in their midst, which they resolved by hurling fruits and various meats at him), and the lower demon D’Hoffryn was pleased and impressed by Aud’s pain and power.

Anyanka

He gave her the nickname Anyanka, and offered her a post as a vengeance demon. Bored by her world, and still holding a grudge against her fellow villagers and men like Olaf, Aud agreed. D’Hoffryn took her to his world of Arashmaharr, where he brought her to demonic stature.

Here, Anyanka gained the power of the Wish, tormenting and destroying unfaithful men. She also periodically came into contact with such famous personages as Count Dracula and Santa Claus. She is also one of the very few Earth-bound creatures to have witnessed (and survived) an ascension by a human to pure demon form.

She through herself into her work, almost becoming her work. So much so, in fact, that Anyanka managed to even worry her fellow vengeance demon and good friend Halfrek. That happened when she single-handedly caused the Russian Revolution in 1905  on a particularly gory “contract.”

Halfrek tried to convince her to enjoy herself, and see the world, but Anyanka would have none of it, preferring instead to, as much as possible, become vengeance, itself.

Cordelia’s wish

After a millennium, a century, and then some, though, Anyanka stumbled upon what was to be her final project as a demon. Xander Harris and Cordelia Chase had just broken their relationship, and Cordelia’s hate shone like a beacon to the vengeance demon.

However, Cordelia could somehow not bring herself to hate Harris. She instead chose to displace her anger on Buffy Summers, the Vampire Slayer. Cordelia wished that Summers had never come to Sunnydale. This led to a nightmarish world where the local vampire Master had opened the Hellmouth and reigned supreme in the region.

Parallel to the apocalyptic battle which destroyed many of the main forces for good and evil in this world, Rupert Giles found Anyanka’s power center. He destroyed it, returning the world to its previous state, as well as returning Anyanka to her original, human form.

It also stranded her as a senior at Sunnydale High School. A mortal. A child ! And she was flunking math.

Back to human

This did not sit well with her. Particularly with hormonal shifts she grew unaccustomed to over the centuries. Thus, Anyanka set out immediately to reclaim her power center.

She attempted to recruit Willow Rosenberg to help her mystically snatch the pendant from just moments before it was shattered in that alternate reality. But the spell failed rather spectacularly, bringing a vampire-turned version of Rosenberg into this dimension.

After some time attempting to work with the vampire, she finally resigned herself to helping Buffy and her friends send the fiend back to its own world. After that, she retreated into her new life at Sunnydale, in hopes of regaining her powers some other way.

This lasted, oddly enough, until near the end of the school year. That is when Anya noted feelings rising up in her that she simply did not understand. What she did understand, though, was that she desperately wanted to be at the Prom, and just as desperately wanted something to go with her.

She rationalized this as a social hierarchy issue—a fear of exclusion from social norms, and certainly not a date.

It’s always Xander’s fault

After analyzing her potential companions, she noticed that Xander Harris— partly responsible for her current situation—was “not quite as obnoxious as most of the alpha males around”. Also, he didn’t already have a date. Anya was sold. Oddly, so was Xander. He accepted the date, which unfortunately only spawned more confusing feelings.

On the day of the mayor’s planned Ascension, Anya planned to run away in order to save herself, and preferably Xander as well, despite her continued hostility toward him. Here, he rejected her, however, and she left on her own.

However, those pesky feelings came back to haunt Anya. She returned to Sunnydale the following year, to cleanse herself of her infatuation by seducing Xander. They made love, and Anya declared she was over him… but then missed him, when he didn’t call her. So, she pursued him.

Engagement

Beginning with that Halloween, they began dating, though neither of them knew what to make of it, other than the physical pleasure they brought each other.

Over time, however, their relationship deepened, as did her relationship with the “Scooby Gang”. She even grew to consider them something similar to friends. Also, Xander got a promotion, and found a much better apartment. Anya, herself, found that she worked well with Giles, and became first his employee, then his partner in the Magic Box shop.

Over time, Anya has edged ever closer to being able to act more like a human than a demon, even becoming engaged to her beau.

Can I have my old job back?

Alas, the engagement to Harris was not to last, either, when he broke it off at the altar. As a result, D’Hoffryn offered to return the vengeance job to Anya. She accepted, but her heart wasn’t in it.

Making things worse, Anyanka was rejected by Rosenberg in the later’s quest for vengeance. She had the Magic Box all but destroyed in the course of events for her efforts.

With her Earthbound life destroyed, and word spreading of her lack of prowess at vengeance, Anya once again threw herself into her work. She destroyed lives left and right, though feeling powerful regrets, each time.

In one final, spectacular killing, Anyanka drew the wrath of both the Slayer and her own conscience. She begged D’Hoffryn to reverse those final deaths and release her from her obligations, which he did, but at a price, killing Halfrek in exchange.

Xander tried to renew their relationship, but Anya would have none of it, for the time. She wanted to know exactly who she was, alone, before committing to anything or anyone again.

For the duration, Anya still will apparently not know peace and serenity. D’Hoffryn has apparently changed his mind about the deal and is sending a trickle of demons out to kill his former “employee.”

Description

Anya is an attractive young woman with high cheek bones, a generally elongated face, and light brown hair, currently wavy.

Personality

Anya, having been a demon with little to no direct human contact for well over a thousand years, has forgotten what few niceties she might have developed in her early human life. This isn’t nearly as bad as it sounds, however, as she never really learned those skills, to begin with.

Partly, this is because Anya has never really known who she was, jumping from “cause” to “cause,” whether mate or project. She never became comfortable with herself, and hoping she would never have a need to do so.

Entering into this life from the outside, she tends to view things in very mechanical, simplistic terms. This is almost childlike, and occasionally childish. She is brutally honest, not grasping the waste of insincerity, but finds herself sort of alienated from her own emotions, except when alone with Xander.

Her vocabulary still needs some work, being drawn partially from her human experiences, and partly from her arrogant demon existence. Thus(as she noted in a robot) she tends to select her words a shade too precisely.

However, when frustrated or pleased with a new development (such as recognition of a human trait within her own personality), everyone around her most certainly knows. Even if the sentiment is expressed awkwardly.

She also likes money. A lot. You haven’t lived until you’ve seen the Dance of Capitalist Superiority.

Quotes

“I’ve seen some horrible things in my time ; I’ve caused most of them, actually, but this…”

“Oh, that girl. Tara and I met her. She speaks with a strange evenness, and selects her words a shade too precisely.”

“Drop a piano on her ! It always works for that evil horrid bunny in that cartoon to stop that poor, nice, helpless man with the speech problem.”

“I’m just so excited ! They come in, I help them. They give me money in exchange for goods. You give me money for working for you. I have a place in the world now. I’m part of the system. I’m a workin’ gal !”

“That’s what I’ve been saying. I mean, I, for one, wasn’t looking forward to starting my day with a slaughter.” (Then, thoughtfully, pleased with herself) “Which, really, just goes to show how much I’ve grown !”

“Been around since, like, the 1500s. I mean, he wasn’t always called Santa, but, Christmas night, flying reindeer, coming down the chimney—all true… Well, he doesn’t traditionally bring presents, so much as, you know, disembowel children, but otherwise…”

“I *was* being patient, but it took too long.”

“I care if you live or die, Xander. I’m just not sure which one I want.”

“Maybe I’m not even the right Anyanka. Ever think about that ? There’s tons of Anyankas out there. Maybe one of them pissed off this… uh… what did you say his name was ? D’Hoffryneffer ?”

“Well, thank you for the generous life-saving. Now please go away. Look, I don’t need anyone’s help. Or, OK, clearly I do, but I don’t want to need anyone’s help, so stop helping.”

“Well, I… I guess you guys could use my help. Willow’s not very good with the practical strategizing—except when she’s evil. And Dawn… she’s not really good for anything…”

DC Universe History

The DC writers would’ve relegated her to the Giffen Dr. Fate, along with Petey. After years of wandering, she most likely did some consulting work for the DEO (perhaps related to the Spectre when Hal Jordan took on the mantle), where she was horrified at their practices (or they suggested they were demon hunting), and she left.

Now, there’s a very good chance that she works with Barter.

Oh, she’s adorable. Just drop her in as a supporting cast member for some hero or group that needs a vaguely mystic background.

By John Colagioia.

Helper(s): Phil Dixon, Danielle Mendus.

Source of Character: Television, Buffy, the Vampire Slayer.