[ OOC || Reference ] The Character
Basics
Age 22. Average height (5'5"); lithe, athletic build due to her training as a Slayer. Her long brown hair falls in loose waves down to her shoulders and her dark eyes can be intense, especially when she goes heavy on the eyeliner. She tends to favour dark makeup and clothing that affects a "bad girl" feel-leather, boots, etc. She's sexy and she knows it; she often has a seductive, but dangerous edge to her, and there's anything but innocence when she's flirting. On the outside, she gives the appearance of extreme confidence-she carries herself like someone who knows there's not a lot they have to be afraid of.
She also has a tattoo on her upper right arm, a band-style tribal-like design.
Personality:
On the whole, Faith is a tough girl, with a strong personality and the physical skills to back up her attitude. When she returns in 4x13 "Salvage," she remains one of the very few people able to put Angel's equally rebellious son, Conner, in line-and manages to gain his admiration in the process to boot. She's got very little in terms of humility: she says what she will and has next to no concern about appearing rude. During her first visit over to Buffy's home for dinner, she easily consumes everything on the table that she can reach while Buffy and her mother are in the kitchen. It’s important to note that she usually isn't trying to deliberately offend-this is simply who she is.
She's rash and impulsive, preferring to act and react rather than pausing to think things through; even "on the count of three" is too much of a plan for her to follow. It's a side of her that becomes especially clear when she's fighting: she becomes very absorbed in combat and will freely pummel her opponent. Her main instinct is to fight-when she's hurt, frustrated, or angry, she lashes out physically, although this part of her eases up somewhat after Angel pulls her back from the edge and it's evident when she comes back in Season 4 of Angel (the point where I'm taking her) that her head is much more level.
Because of how few people she trusts, Faith's loyalty-once gained-is pretty unshakeable. It's strong enough that she was willing to go to great lengths to prevent Angel (who had lost his soul and was evil) from being killed by anyone, despite him being a danger, because she wanted to save him the way he'd saved her. Anyone who gets on her good side can probably depend on her to protect them, as well; despite her mistakes, Faith isn't innately a bad person, and it remains in her nature to keep people out of harm's way, more so now that she's seeking redemption. In a way, she wants to prove to herself that she can help others. Furthermore, she's come to value good friends, having realized that she'd made a mistake throwing away Buffy's friendship when Buffy had been one of the few people who had tried to reach out to her.
Faith is quite closed off and isolated, finding it difficult to connect-particularly men, whom she seems to only connect with sexually. This isolation is not necessarily completely self-imposed; there's a sense that Faith wants to connect, but has trouble finding someone she's willing to risk letting in, resulting in her vulnerability to those who know how to manipulate her emotions, such as the Mayor. Nevertheless, she's doing better with her trust issues now that she's seen the good side of people through Angel's support. Her newfound belief in herself, especially, has helped with this. Still, having not had the support of friends and family the way Buffy did, there remains very few she's willing to let in. In fact, there are really only two people she's trusted almost completely: the Mayor and Angel.
Among the cast, Faith is one of the more promiscuous characters. She sleeps with Xander, seemingly on a whim, and laughs in his face (and then tries to choke him to death) when he returns to her later. It's clear from both her actions and her words that she's not unfamiliar with the idea of kinks in bed, and she likely finds a certain power in being able to seduce people at will. Again, this is something that influences her less by the time she returns in "Salvage." Despite being rather sexually aggressive, Faith avoids any true emotional intimacy. As she tells Buffy, "Now it's strictly get some and get gone. You can't trust guys."
She's got a highly rebellious nature, often dismissing authority, and she refuses to let anyone walk all over her. She will strike back, even if the odds are against her, but she's also willing to talk things out rather than automatically hit back and she's now able to draw the line between self-defense and going in for the kill: when an inmate attacks her (4x23), it's clear she's holding back a lot of what she's capable of, doing only enough to protect herself-she's much less willing to take a life than she was before and she shows a certain amount of restraint. She's working to fight the darkness inside her, but she still retains her prior viciousness, a part that Wesley proves can still be brought out when he deliberately taunts her.
She can be quite loyal, as well, now that she's no longer walking the evil path, and anyone who gets on her good side can probably depend on her to protect them; as a Slayer, it is in her nature to keep people out of harm's way and she has a desire to do so, more so now that she's still seeking redemption. In a way, she wants to prove to herself that she can help others. Furthermore, she's come to value good friends, having realized that she'd made a mistake throwing away Buffy's friendship when Buffy had been one of the few people who had tried to reach out to her.
Despite her outward self-assurance, Faith has very low self-esteem, stemming from her damaged background, and one of the main reasons she connected so well with the Mayor was that he was the first person to have never once put her down, even boosting her confidence and giving her encouragement when she failed to accomplish a goal. Part of why she turned against Buffy was her resentment of the other Slayer, feeling as if she were always being compared to Buffy and falling short, or that she wasn't good enough. Her faith in herself is starting to be restored little by little at this point, though, and it seems she is managing to hold onto the belief that she can, somehow, be a good person.
Abilities:
Faith is an experienced fighter in both hand-to-hand and a wide variety of weapons due to a combination of her supernatural strength and extensive physical training. Although she won't be at her canonical inhuman strength, she'll still be stronger than a girl her size should be (think: athletic, buff human male) and her physical skills aren't going anywhere. Her reflexes and senses are higher than average, but again, not inhumanly so-she's only as fast and her instincts are only as good as a trained (human) fighter can be.
Her healing will be reduced to just slightly faster than average. She will obviously not have any prophetic visions.
She's also got a good grasp on various supernatural elements, although they'll be pretty mismatched and here and there. She's not a scholar by any means.
History:
Born in South Boston, Massachusetts, Faith had a rather rough background growing up. There are hints of abuse and neglect reflecting strongly throughout the series. We know that her mother was an alcoholic and that Faith was nicknamed "Little Firecracker." While not much is said of her father, a published novel written in the form of Faith's diary called Go Ask Malice-the closest thing to an official source that expands on Faith's fuzzy past-notes that her father was abusive and that he was imprisoned for murder. Faith is raised to believe he was dead. Her mother was forced into prostitution by her boyfriend, but is later killed.
The BtVS series itself reveals that she dropped out of high school and that after she became a Slayer, her Watcher was tortured to death in front of her by a vampire named Kakistos. Go Ask Malice again expands on these events, detailing her training with her Watcher-named Diana Dormer-and Faith's subsequent possession by a spirit, as well as her escape from Kakistos. She stabs him deep in the eye before fleeing to Sunnydale.
Faith is, of course, not technically the "real" Slayer in the sense that she belongs to a line of Slayers that was inadvertently created. There is only supposed to be one Slayer per generation, so the first Slayer has to die before the next is called. When Buffy died briefly before being revived through CPR, however, she activated the calling of another Slayer. Since Buffy herself continues to live on afterward, this caused two Slayers to exist at once. Kendra Young is the first of the "second line" of Slayers, but after she is killed, it results in Faith's calling. (Why there is no third Slayer later, after Buffy dies again-and is resurrected again-is left entirely unexplained by Joss).
Faith is introduced to the Sunnydale crew in typical Faith fashion-violently. She stakes a vampire in front of Buffy and her friends, and then proceeds to tell stories about her slaying activities. She seems to charm everyone but Buffy, who appears a bit put-off by Faith's presence. Buffy at that time was also having difficulty dealing with Angel's death by her own hands, and was unwilling to make an effort to connect with Faith. This is the start of their uneasy relationship, where Buffy seems a bit wary of Faith to a certain degree; Faith, in turn, begins to grow isolated and resent Buffy, even though she at first claims she wanted to meet "the infamous Buff."
Initially, Faith lies and tells everyone that her Watcher is on a retreat, but when Giles tries to contact her Watcher, he discovers that her Watcher is actually dead. Buffy goes to confront Faith, but they find themselves attacked by Kakistos instead. Faith appears severely shaken from witnessing what Kakistos did to her Watcher and facing the ancient vampire is, in fact, one of the only times Faith grows so afraid she actually panics, cowering away from him. It's clear she feels guilty that she couldn't save her Watcher. It isn't until during the ensuing fight that Faith finally comes through and stakes Kakistos. Killing him seems to have helped her put the event behind her, allowing her to move on somewhat. The Watcher's Council agrees to allow Faith to stay in Sunnydale for an indefinite period of time, with Giles serving as the Watcher for both her and Buffy.
Not long after, Faith receives a new Watcher named Gwendolyn Post. Although she is wary at first about Gwendolyn, she soon begins to trust the woman-only to be tricked and betrayed by her. It turns out that Gwendolyn had been fired (the Council swears there was a memo) and was only in Sunnydale to steal a powerful magical glove. Gwendolyn is killed in the end, but the incident only serves as proof to Faith that people are not to be trusted, and she withdraws even more.
Her relationship with Buffy continues to be a rocky one, but they do become good friends for a short while and Buffy seems to trust her to a certain degree. She also invited her over for Christmas dinner at one point. Faith initially declines the invitation, but shows up later with presents. Their friendship doesn't last long though; in "Bad Girls," Faith begins to seduce Buffy to her wild ways, but Buffy receives an abrupt wakeup call when Faith accidentally kills Deputy Mayor Allan Finch, thinking he was a vampire. Instead of dealing with what happened, Faith goes into denial, telling Buffy, "I don't care."
Although Faith dumps the body, it's quickly discovered and the cops come to find her. Buffy insists that they have to tell Giles what occurred, but Faith turns it around, essentially blackmailing her-if Buffy goes to Giles, Buffy will go down with Faith, as she was by her side that night. When it seems Buffy won't let things go, Faith takes matters into her own hands and lies to Giles, saying that Buffy was the one who killed Allan Finch instead. Giles notes later to Buffy that Faith is a bad liar, but plays along at the time for her sake.
At this point, Faith has acquired a new Watcher, Wesley Wyndam-Pryce. While he's not evil, he's quite an irritation, and fails to acquire the respect of anyone, least of all Faith's. Giles attempts to keep the accidental murder quiet from Wesley, as he does not want the Council to interfere in case they push Faith over the edge even more, but Wesley overhears the conversation.
Meanwhile, the Scooby gang decides to help Faith through an intervention of sorts. Xander volunteers to talk to her, thinking they had a connection, since Faith had slept with him in a previous episode. Unfortunately, Faith-as expected-views him as nothing more than a one-night stand, and when Xander continues to try to talk to her, she grows sexually aggressive, and then tries to strangle him. Angel intervenes in time and takes her back to his mansion, where he-with Buffy collaborating behind the scenes-tries to reason with her. His ability to understand where she's coming from seems to be getting through to her, but Wesley barges in on the entire thing, arresting her under Council orders and disrupting what little progress she had made with Angel. While they are transporting her in the armoured car, Faith attacks her guards and escapes, winding up at the door of Mayor Richard Wilkins III to take up a position by his side. The Mayor is, naturally, evil.
Faith and the Mayor develop a very close relationship, and they seem to genuinely care for each other-he is, in a sense, the father she never had. While she at first works undercover, pretending to "rehabilitate" around Buffy and her friends, her true colours are shown when she tries to get Angel to lose his soul. Angel fakes turning into Angelus and together they capture Buffy, where Faith unwittingly confesses to the Mayor's plans regarding his Ascension-the moment when the Mayor will turn into a pure demon. Amidst those plans, Faith also reveals quite a bit about herself, mainly that she resents Buffy for overshadowing her, and for having the friends and family that Faith never did. Throughout her bitter rant, it's clear that she feels she will never be good enough compared to Buffy-and that she takes exception to being compared to Buffy at all in the first place.
During the ensuing fight, Faith escapes again and returns to the Mayor. She's upset at having been tricked by Angel and Buffy, but the Mayor's upbeat personality is contagious in the way he assures her not to worry too much about it. He then goes on to suggest a game of miniature golf to cheer her up. It's an interesting reaction from someone who's supposed to be evil, and Faith appears even more taken in by him; likely, it's one of the few, if not only, times she's ever received that kind of support from anyone.
Not too long after, Willow is captured while Buffy is after the Box of Gavrock (which basically contains a lot of face-eating spiders). Although Faith is only indirectly involved with the incident, it's apparent when she saves Wesley from one of the spiders that she is not quite yet completely heartless; she seems to be surprised herself that she rescued him. Despite declaring to Willow that she has the Mayor, Faith's slight hesitation in following him out the door at the end of the episode reveals a bit of her uncertainty in the path she has chosen to take. Likely, she's a bit rattled by Willow's earlier claim that Faith is now beyond help, even though Faith had previously mocked the way people felt sorry for her.
Faith's next major move against Buffy is when she shoots Angel with a poisoned arrow. When Buffy discovers that he can only be cured by the blood of a Slayer, she goes after Faith, intending to kill her and bring her back for Angel. She fails to do so, however: although she stabs Faith, the other Slayer dives over the railing and onto a moving truck which carries her away. Faith ends up in a coma from here on out and the Mayor is devastated when he hears that she will most likely never wake up.
She does, however, wake up-eight months later. She is clearly affected upon hearing that the Mayor has died, and when she learns what'd happened during-and since-the Sunnydale graduation night (which was when the Ascension and the big fight happened), she tracks Buffy down on campus and confronts her, apparently ticked that not only did Buffy try to kill her, Buffy is also no longer with the guy that she was trying to sacrifice Faith for. When the police arrive on campus, Faith flees just in time and disappears.
At this time, she gets a delivery-it's a tape from the Mayor, a recording he made for her after she fell into her coma and saved just in case he died. He leaves her a rather sweet, fatherly message (in a kind of creepy way), but most importantly, he leaves her a gift: a metal device that fits into her palm.
While Buffy is busy warning Riley about Faith, Faith goes to find Buffy's mother, Joyce. She taunts Joyce, asking her how it feels to take care of a daughter who forgets her and leaves her behind, saying that Joyce has been "dumped"-words that clearly have some relevance to Faith's situation, as well, if not more so. Buffy comes crashing through the door and they begin to fight. Faith uses the device the Mayor left her to switch bodies with Buffy as they are exchanging blows, and knocks Buffy (now in Faith's body) out. When the police arrive, they take away Buffy!Faith and Faith!Buffy is left with Joyce, who is none the wiser.
As Buffy is being taken out of police custody and into that of the Watcher's Council, Faith uses Buffy's credit card to book a flight out of town, although Joyce interrupts her to say that Giles has some news. It turns out Giles just wants to tell everyone that things are fine. Faith goes to the Bronze, where she aggressively flirts with Spike. Willow later brings in Tara to meet Buffy, which finally sets off the first major alarm bell: Tara, being a witch, can sense energy flow and appears to have noticed that "Buffy's" was disrupted, similar to cases of possession. Willow and Tara go to investigate.
Meanwhile, Faith drops by to see Riley, who is Buffy's current boyfriend and has sex with him, although she acts a bit strange. At the same time, Buffy's broken away from the Watcher's Council and makes her way back to Giles, where she convinces him that she's not actually Faith. Eventually, the full situation is discovered and with the help of Tara and Willow, they give Buffy a similar device that will switch them back.
When Faith finds out that there's a hostage situation involving a vampire, however, she becomes torn, but eventually decides to go save the hostages instead of fleeing. There, she runs into Buffy, who has arrived to also help the hostages. They confront each other and Faith beats on Buffy (who is wearing Faith's body) quite savagely. When she calls Buffy a "murderous bitch" even though Buffy's never murdered anyone at all, it's a pretty strong hint she's actually beating up on herself out of a sense of self-loathing. Buffy manages to catch Faith's hand and switch their bodies back. Faith takes advantage of Buffy's dazed state to run off.
We next catch up with her in L.A., where she first wreaks havoc around town, starting fights and attacking people to steal their money and squat in their homes. Eventually, Wolfram & Hart-a prestigious law firm representing demons and various other evil clients-hire her to kill Angel, who's been giving them a bit of trouble. Faith takes the job without hesitation. Claiming that Angel is not "in the game," she goes after his two closest friends, knocking out Cordelia and capturing Wesley to torture him. Angel finds her and the two engage in a fight. It's obvious Angel isn't really fighting back, though, which only drives Faith into a more frenzied manner of combat. She tries to get him to kill her, screaming that she's "bad," and eventually breaks down into tears in his arms.
Angel takes her back to his apartment, where he helps set her back on her path to redemption. She's flighty at first and almost runs again at one point, but Angel convinces her to stay. Although still on shaky ground, she seems to slowly be getting better-when Buffy suddenly shows up in town to confront Faith. At the same time, the Watchers Council's Special Ops team has also come for Faith. With Wesley's and Buffy's help, they manage to shake the Council's men, but in the midst of the chaos, Faith disappears. Angel is arrested by the local police for refusing to divulge Faith's whereabouts, but when they bring him into the station, Faith is already there-she's chosen to turn herself in.
Her stay in prison is not detailed, although we know Angel drops by to visit on occasion. By the time we catch up to her in Season 4 of Angel, she also seems to have gained a bit of a reputation: after another prisoner tries to attack her, the guard who intervenes asks rhetorically, "Who'd be crazy enough to try to take you out?" Regardless, her time in prison appears to have helped her gain a certain sense of self, and she has lost the wild, desperate edge she used to have-although she definitely still has an edge to her. During a later scene when Wesley brings purposely brings out a deep aggression reminiscent of the old Faith, it's evident she's still working to suppress her demons.
When Angel loses his soul, setting his evil alter-ego Angelus free (all while L.A. is plunged into an eternal-midnight Apocalypse) Wesley goes to Faith for assistance. Without a single moment of hesitation, Faith agrees to help restore Angel's soul without harming him, wanting to repay him for having helped her before. Faith immediately breaks out of prison right then and there, and undertakes a "salvage" mission to capture Angelus. She is very adamant that he not be killed, sending Angel's son packing when he won't listen. (Slight tangent: the ease with which she breaks out is a small, but important detail, as it suggests she remained in prison completely of her own free will).
As they investigate, Faith has obviously changed when she's disturbed at the way Wesley tortures a girl for information. When Wesley tells her she needs to learn to "go all the way," though, it propels her to take an extreme step, where she injects herself with a mystical drug and lets Angelus drink from her, drugging him in the process as well. It's a powerful substance that few wake up from; according to Wesley, "it leads you down to hell."
Faith enters a coma-like trance state, wherein she shares a headspace with Angelus. Together, they witness several key moments in Angel's life after he gains his soul. Something switches in her when she witnesses Angel drink from a man he could've saved, and as Angelus taunts her about the killer within her, her neck wound begins to bleed: she's dying and she's about to give in, Angel's deed having gotten her to feel as if she may not ever be able to gain her redemption and that it might be better to leave-giving her life to save Angel's soul. Angel manages convinces her to live on because "our time is never up"-there's not really an end to the act of atonement. Faith wakes up.
Outside in the real world, Angel's son Conner is about to stake Angel, but Faith arrives just in time to kick his ass and Willow, a witch they borrowed from the Sunnydale gang, restores Angel's soul. After, Faith decides to go back with Willow to Sunnydale, in order to help with yet another Apocalypse.
And this is the point where I'm taking Faith, so she never does make it to Sunnydale. Evidently.
Age 22. Average height (5'5"); lithe, athletic build due to her training as a Slayer. Her long brown hair falls in loose waves down to her shoulders and her dark eyes can be intense, especially when she goes heavy on the eyeliner. She tends to favour dark makeup and clothing that affects a "bad girl" feel-leather, boots, etc. She's sexy and she knows it; she often has a seductive, but dangerous edge to her, and there's anything but innocence when she's flirting. On the outside, she gives the appearance of extreme confidence-she carries herself like someone who knows there's not a lot they have to be afraid of.
She also has a tattoo on her upper right arm, a band-style tribal-like design.
Personality:
On the whole, Faith is a tough girl, with a strong personality and the physical skills to back up her attitude. When she returns in 4x13 "Salvage," she remains one of the very few people able to put Angel's equally rebellious son, Conner, in line-and manages to gain his admiration in the process to boot. She's got very little in terms of humility: she says what she will and has next to no concern about appearing rude. During her first visit over to Buffy's home for dinner, she easily consumes everything on the table that she can reach while Buffy and her mother are in the kitchen. It’s important to note that she usually isn't trying to deliberately offend-this is simply who she is.
She's rash and impulsive, preferring to act and react rather than pausing to think things through; even "on the count of three" is too much of a plan for her to follow. It's a side of her that becomes especially clear when she's fighting: she becomes very absorbed in combat and will freely pummel her opponent. Her main instinct is to fight-when she's hurt, frustrated, or angry, she lashes out physically, although this part of her eases up somewhat after Angel pulls her back from the edge and it's evident when she comes back in Season 4 of Angel (the point where I'm taking her) that her head is much more level.
Because of how few people she trusts, Faith's loyalty-once gained-is pretty unshakeable. It's strong enough that she was willing to go to great lengths to prevent Angel (who had lost his soul and was evil) from being killed by anyone, despite him being a danger, because she wanted to save him the way he'd saved her. Anyone who gets on her good side can probably depend on her to protect them, as well; despite her mistakes, Faith isn't innately a bad person, and it remains in her nature to keep people out of harm's way, more so now that she's seeking redemption. In a way, she wants to prove to herself that she can help others. Furthermore, she's come to value good friends, having realized that she'd made a mistake throwing away Buffy's friendship when Buffy had been one of the few people who had tried to reach out to her.
Faith is quite closed off and isolated, finding it difficult to connect-particularly men, whom she seems to only connect with sexually. This isolation is not necessarily completely self-imposed; there's a sense that Faith wants to connect, but has trouble finding someone she's willing to risk letting in, resulting in her vulnerability to those who know how to manipulate her emotions, such as the Mayor. Nevertheless, she's doing better with her trust issues now that she's seen the good side of people through Angel's support. Her newfound belief in herself, especially, has helped with this. Still, having not had the support of friends and family the way Buffy did, there remains very few she's willing to let in. In fact, there are really only two people she's trusted almost completely: the Mayor and Angel.
Among the cast, Faith is one of the more promiscuous characters. She sleeps with Xander, seemingly on a whim, and laughs in his face (and then tries to choke him to death) when he returns to her later. It's clear from both her actions and her words that she's not unfamiliar with the idea of kinks in bed, and she likely finds a certain power in being able to seduce people at will. Again, this is something that influences her less by the time she returns in "Salvage." Despite being rather sexually aggressive, Faith avoids any true emotional intimacy. As she tells Buffy, "Now it's strictly get some and get gone. You can't trust guys."
She's got a highly rebellious nature, often dismissing authority, and she refuses to let anyone walk all over her. She will strike back, even if the odds are against her, but she's also willing to talk things out rather than automatically hit back and she's now able to draw the line between self-defense and going in for the kill: when an inmate attacks her (4x23), it's clear she's holding back a lot of what she's capable of, doing only enough to protect herself-she's much less willing to take a life than she was before and she shows a certain amount of restraint. She's working to fight the darkness inside her, but she still retains her prior viciousness, a part that Wesley proves can still be brought out when he deliberately taunts her.
She can be quite loyal, as well, now that she's no longer walking the evil path, and anyone who gets on her good side can probably depend on her to protect them; as a Slayer, it is in her nature to keep people out of harm's way and she has a desire to do so, more so now that she's still seeking redemption. In a way, she wants to prove to herself that she can help others. Furthermore, she's come to value good friends, having realized that she'd made a mistake throwing away Buffy's friendship when Buffy had been one of the few people who had tried to reach out to her.
Despite her outward self-assurance, Faith has very low self-esteem, stemming from her damaged background, and one of the main reasons she connected so well with the Mayor was that he was the first person to have never once put her down, even boosting her confidence and giving her encouragement when she failed to accomplish a goal. Part of why she turned against Buffy was her resentment of the other Slayer, feeling as if she were always being compared to Buffy and falling short, or that she wasn't good enough. Her faith in herself is starting to be restored little by little at this point, though, and it seems she is managing to hold onto the belief that she can, somehow, be a good person.
Abilities:
Faith is an experienced fighter in both hand-to-hand and a wide variety of weapons due to a combination of her supernatural strength and extensive physical training. Although she won't be at her canonical inhuman strength, she'll still be stronger than a girl her size should be (think: athletic, buff human male) and her physical skills aren't going anywhere. Her reflexes and senses are higher than average, but again, not inhumanly so-she's only as fast and her instincts are only as good as a trained (human) fighter can be.
Her healing will be reduced to just slightly faster than average. She will obviously not have any prophetic visions.
She's also got a good grasp on various supernatural elements, although they'll be pretty mismatched and here and there. She's not a scholar by any means.
History:
Born in South Boston, Massachusetts, Faith had a rather rough background growing up. There are hints of abuse and neglect reflecting strongly throughout the series. We know that her mother was an alcoholic and that Faith was nicknamed "Little Firecracker." While not much is said of her father, a published novel written in the form of Faith's diary called Go Ask Malice-the closest thing to an official source that expands on Faith's fuzzy past-notes that her father was abusive and that he was imprisoned for murder. Faith is raised to believe he was dead. Her mother was forced into prostitution by her boyfriend, but is later killed.
The BtVS series itself reveals that she dropped out of high school and that after she became a Slayer, her Watcher was tortured to death in front of her by a vampire named Kakistos. Go Ask Malice again expands on these events, detailing her training with her Watcher-named Diana Dormer-and Faith's subsequent possession by a spirit, as well as her escape from Kakistos. She stabs him deep in the eye before fleeing to Sunnydale.
Faith is, of course, not technically the "real" Slayer in the sense that she belongs to a line of Slayers that was inadvertently created. There is only supposed to be one Slayer per generation, so the first Slayer has to die before the next is called. When Buffy died briefly before being revived through CPR, however, she activated the calling of another Slayer. Since Buffy herself continues to live on afterward, this caused two Slayers to exist at once. Kendra Young is the first of the "second line" of Slayers, but after she is killed, it results in Faith's calling. (Why there is no third Slayer later, after Buffy dies again-and is resurrected again-is left entirely unexplained by Joss).
Faith is introduced to the Sunnydale crew in typical Faith fashion-violently. She stakes a vampire in front of Buffy and her friends, and then proceeds to tell stories about her slaying activities. She seems to charm everyone but Buffy, who appears a bit put-off by Faith's presence. Buffy at that time was also having difficulty dealing with Angel's death by her own hands, and was unwilling to make an effort to connect with Faith. This is the start of their uneasy relationship, where Buffy seems a bit wary of Faith to a certain degree; Faith, in turn, begins to grow isolated and resent Buffy, even though she at first claims she wanted to meet "the infamous Buff."
Initially, Faith lies and tells everyone that her Watcher is on a retreat, but when Giles tries to contact her Watcher, he discovers that her Watcher is actually dead. Buffy goes to confront Faith, but they find themselves attacked by Kakistos instead. Faith appears severely shaken from witnessing what Kakistos did to her Watcher and facing the ancient vampire is, in fact, one of the only times Faith grows so afraid she actually panics, cowering away from him. It's clear she feels guilty that she couldn't save her Watcher. It isn't until during the ensuing fight that Faith finally comes through and stakes Kakistos. Killing him seems to have helped her put the event behind her, allowing her to move on somewhat. The Watcher's Council agrees to allow Faith to stay in Sunnydale for an indefinite period of time, with Giles serving as the Watcher for both her and Buffy.
Not long after, Faith receives a new Watcher named Gwendolyn Post. Although she is wary at first about Gwendolyn, she soon begins to trust the woman-only to be tricked and betrayed by her. It turns out that Gwendolyn had been fired (the Council swears there was a memo) and was only in Sunnydale to steal a powerful magical glove. Gwendolyn is killed in the end, but the incident only serves as proof to Faith that people are not to be trusted, and she withdraws even more.
Her relationship with Buffy continues to be a rocky one, but they do become good friends for a short while and Buffy seems to trust her to a certain degree. She also invited her over for Christmas dinner at one point. Faith initially declines the invitation, but shows up later with presents. Their friendship doesn't last long though; in "Bad Girls," Faith begins to seduce Buffy to her wild ways, but Buffy receives an abrupt wakeup call when Faith accidentally kills Deputy Mayor Allan Finch, thinking he was a vampire. Instead of dealing with what happened, Faith goes into denial, telling Buffy, "I don't care."
Although Faith dumps the body, it's quickly discovered and the cops come to find her. Buffy insists that they have to tell Giles what occurred, but Faith turns it around, essentially blackmailing her-if Buffy goes to Giles, Buffy will go down with Faith, as she was by her side that night. When it seems Buffy won't let things go, Faith takes matters into her own hands and lies to Giles, saying that Buffy was the one who killed Allan Finch instead. Giles notes later to Buffy that Faith is a bad liar, but plays along at the time for her sake.
At this point, Faith has acquired a new Watcher, Wesley Wyndam-Pryce. While he's not evil, he's quite an irritation, and fails to acquire the respect of anyone, least of all Faith's. Giles attempts to keep the accidental murder quiet from Wesley, as he does not want the Council to interfere in case they push Faith over the edge even more, but Wesley overhears the conversation.
Meanwhile, the Scooby gang decides to help Faith through an intervention of sorts. Xander volunteers to talk to her, thinking they had a connection, since Faith had slept with him in a previous episode. Unfortunately, Faith-as expected-views him as nothing more than a one-night stand, and when Xander continues to try to talk to her, she grows sexually aggressive, and then tries to strangle him. Angel intervenes in time and takes her back to his mansion, where he-with Buffy collaborating behind the scenes-tries to reason with her. His ability to understand where she's coming from seems to be getting through to her, but Wesley barges in on the entire thing, arresting her under Council orders and disrupting what little progress she had made with Angel. While they are transporting her in the armoured car, Faith attacks her guards and escapes, winding up at the door of Mayor Richard Wilkins III to take up a position by his side. The Mayor is, naturally, evil.
Faith and the Mayor develop a very close relationship, and they seem to genuinely care for each other-he is, in a sense, the father she never had. While she at first works undercover, pretending to "rehabilitate" around Buffy and her friends, her true colours are shown when she tries to get Angel to lose his soul. Angel fakes turning into Angelus and together they capture Buffy, where Faith unwittingly confesses to the Mayor's plans regarding his Ascension-the moment when the Mayor will turn into a pure demon. Amidst those plans, Faith also reveals quite a bit about herself, mainly that she resents Buffy for overshadowing her, and for having the friends and family that Faith never did. Throughout her bitter rant, it's clear that she feels she will never be good enough compared to Buffy-and that she takes exception to being compared to Buffy at all in the first place.
During the ensuing fight, Faith escapes again and returns to the Mayor. She's upset at having been tricked by Angel and Buffy, but the Mayor's upbeat personality is contagious in the way he assures her not to worry too much about it. He then goes on to suggest a game of miniature golf to cheer her up. It's an interesting reaction from someone who's supposed to be evil, and Faith appears even more taken in by him; likely, it's one of the few, if not only, times she's ever received that kind of support from anyone.
Not too long after, Willow is captured while Buffy is after the Box of Gavrock (which basically contains a lot of face-eating spiders). Although Faith is only indirectly involved with the incident, it's apparent when she saves Wesley from one of the spiders that she is not quite yet completely heartless; she seems to be surprised herself that she rescued him. Despite declaring to Willow that she has the Mayor, Faith's slight hesitation in following him out the door at the end of the episode reveals a bit of her uncertainty in the path she has chosen to take. Likely, she's a bit rattled by Willow's earlier claim that Faith is now beyond help, even though Faith had previously mocked the way people felt sorry for her.
Faith's next major move against Buffy is when she shoots Angel with a poisoned arrow. When Buffy discovers that he can only be cured by the blood of a Slayer, she goes after Faith, intending to kill her and bring her back for Angel. She fails to do so, however: although she stabs Faith, the other Slayer dives over the railing and onto a moving truck which carries her away. Faith ends up in a coma from here on out and the Mayor is devastated when he hears that she will most likely never wake up.
She does, however, wake up-eight months later. She is clearly affected upon hearing that the Mayor has died, and when she learns what'd happened during-and since-the Sunnydale graduation night (which was when the Ascension and the big fight happened), she tracks Buffy down on campus and confronts her, apparently ticked that not only did Buffy try to kill her, Buffy is also no longer with the guy that she was trying to sacrifice Faith for. When the police arrive on campus, Faith flees just in time and disappears.
At this time, she gets a delivery-it's a tape from the Mayor, a recording he made for her after she fell into her coma and saved just in case he died. He leaves her a rather sweet, fatherly message (in a kind of creepy way), but most importantly, he leaves her a gift: a metal device that fits into her palm.
While Buffy is busy warning Riley about Faith, Faith goes to find Buffy's mother, Joyce. She taunts Joyce, asking her how it feels to take care of a daughter who forgets her and leaves her behind, saying that Joyce has been "dumped"-words that clearly have some relevance to Faith's situation, as well, if not more so. Buffy comes crashing through the door and they begin to fight. Faith uses the device the Mayor left her to switch bodies with Buffy as they are exchanging blows, and knocks Buffy (now in Faith's body) out. When the police arrive, they take away Buffy!Faith and Faith!Buffy is left with Joyce, who is none the wiser.
As Buffy is being taken out of police custody and into that of the Watcher's Council, Faith uses Buffy's credit card to book a flight out of town, although Joyce interrupts her to say that Giles has some news. It turns out Giles just wants to tell everyone that things are fine. Faith goes to the Bronze, where she aggressively flirts with Spike. Willow later brings in Tara to meet Buffy, which finally sets off the first major alarm bell: Tara, being a witch, can sense energy flow and appears to have noticed that "Buffy's" was disrupted, similar to cases of possession. Willow and Tara go to investigate.
Meanwhile, Faith drops by to see Riley, who is Buffy's current boyfriend and has sex with him, although she acts a bit strange. At the same time, Buffy's broken away from the Watcher's Council and makes her way back to Giles, where she convinces him that she's not actually Faith. Eventually, the full situation is discovered and with the help of Tara and Willow, they give Buffy a similar device that will switch them back.
When Faith finds out that there's a hostage situation involving a vampire, however, she becomes torn, but eventually decides to go save the hostages instead of fleeing. There, she runs into Buffy, who has arrived to also help the hostages. They confront each other and Faith beats on Buffy (who is wearing Faith's body) quite savagely. When she calls Buffy a "murderous bitch" even though Buffy's never murdered anyone at all, it's a pretty strong hint she's actually beating up on herself out of a sense of self-loathing. Buffy manages to catch Faith's hand and switch their bodies back. Faith takes advantage of Buffy's dazed state to run off.
We next catch up with her in L.A., where she first wreaks havoc around town, starting fights and attacking people to steal their money and squat in their homes. Eventually, Wolfram & Hart-a prestigious law firm representing demons and various other evil clients-hire her to kill Angel, who's been giving them a bit of trouble. Faith takes the job without hesitation. Claiming that Angel is not "in the game," she goes after his two closest friends, knocking out Cordelia and capturing Wesley to torture him. Angel finds her and the two engage in a fight. It's obvious Angel isn't really fighting back, though, which only drives Faith into a more frenzied manner of combat. She tries to get him to kill her, screaming that she's "bad," and eventually breaks down into tears in his arms.
Angel takes her back to his apartment, where he helps set her back on her path to redemption. She's flighty at first and almost runs again at one point, but Angel convinces her to stay. Although still on shaky ground, she seems to slowly be getting better-when Buffy suddenly shows up in town to confront Faith. At the same time, the Watchers Council's Special Ops team has also come for Faith. With Wesley's and Buffy's help, they manage to shake the Council's men, but in the midst of the chaos, Faith disappears. Angel is arrested by the local police for refusing to divulge Faith's whereabouts, but when they bring him into the station, Faith is already there-she's chosen to turn herself in.
Her stay in prison is not detailed, although we know Angel drops by to visit on occasion. By the time we catch up to her in Season 4 of Angel, she also seems to have gained a bit of a reputation: after another prisoner tries to attack her, the guard who intervenes asks rhetorically, "Who'd be crazy enough to try to take you out?" Regardless, her time in prison appears to have helped her gain a certain sense of self, and she has lost the wild, desperate edge she used to have-although she definitely still has an edge to her. During a later scene when Wesley brings purposely brings out a deep aggression reminiscent of the old Faith, it's evident she's still working to suppress her demons.
When Angel loses his soul, setting his evil alter-ego Angelus free (all while L.A. is plunged into an eternal-midnight Apocalypse) Wesley goes to Faith for assistance. Without a single moment of hesitation, Faith agrees to help restore Angel's soul without harming him, wanting to repay him for having helped her before. Faith immediately breaks out of prison right then and there, and undertakes a "salvage" mission to capture Angelus. She is very adamant that he not be killed, sending Angel's son packing when he won't listen. (Slight tangent: the ease with which she breaks out is a small, but important detail, as it suggests she remained in prison completely of her own free will).
As they investigate, Faith has obviously changed when she's disturbed at the way Wesley tortures a girl for information. When Wesley tells her she needs to learn to "go all the way," though, it propels her to take an extreme step, where she injects herself with a mystical drug and lets Angelus drink from her, drugging him in the process as well. It's a powerful substance that few wake up from; according to Wesley, "it leads you down to hell."
Faith enters a coma-like trance state, wherein she shares a headspace with Angelus. Together, they witness several key moments in Angel's life after he gains his soul. Something switches in her when she witnesses Angel drink from a man he could've saved, and as Angelus taunts her about the killer within her, her neck wound begins to bleed: she's dying and she's about to give in, Angel's deed having gotten her to feel as if she may not ever be able to gain her redemption and that it might be better to leave-giving her life to save Angel's soul. Angel manages convinces her to live on because "our time is never up"-there's not really an end to the act of atonement. Faith wakes up.
Outside in the real world, Angel's son Conner is about to stake Angel, but Faith arrives just in time to kick his ass and Willow, a witch they borrowed from the Sunnydale gang, restores Angel's soul. After, Faith decides to go back with Willow to Sunnydale, in order to help with yet another Apocalypse.
And this is the point where I'm taking Faith, so she never does make it to Sunnydale. Evidently.