Anya Jenkins
Anya Jenkins is a female television character who features in Buffy-Angel.
Contents |
Biography
Aud was a female human born in 860 where she grew up raising rabbits and became the outsider of her village in Sjornjost, Sweden, whose inhabitants labeled her as being odd because she soke her mind. When she was 20 years old, Aud had fallen in love with a man named Olaf, a Viking warrior who enjoyed hunting trolls and drinking at the bar. One night, Olaf drunkenly slept with a bar maid named Rannveig and a furious Aud resorted to magic to curse him with simple vengeance spells like boils on his penis. She then used the Thornton's Hope spell to turn him into a troll and he was forced to flee from his fellow villagers, who did not believe his story. The act of vengeance against her lover Olaf gained the attention of D'Hoffryn, a demon who offered to elevate Aud to the status of a vengeance demon. (Episode: Selfless) She became known as Anyanka and earned the title of 'Patron Saint of Scorned Women'. Her power source was the Symbol of Anyanka, an amulet with the power to grant dark wishes for the amusement of the pestilent deities. (Episode: The Wish) However, like all vengeance demons, Anyanka's interpretation of the wish expressed would often be rather loose and considerably more destructive than the wisher intended. (Episode: Beneath You) In 1199, Anyanka traveled to the Kastka valleys above the Urals to curse an unfaithful shepherd and was caught in the middle of a sorcerer's Ascension to the form of the demon Lohesh. (Episode: Graduation Day, Part One) She managed to escape, but was shocked by the death and carnage which claimed almost the entire village. In the 16th century, Anyanka came to know the French sorcerer Cloutier who, despite inventing a spell hated by demons, Tirer la Couverture, she thought he was cute. (Episode: No Place Like Home)
In 1998, Anyanka arrived in Sunnydale, California to punish teenager Xander Harris for cheating on his girlfriend Cordelia Chase with his best friend, Willow Rosenberg. Taking on the guise of Anya, she enrolled herself at Sunnydale High School and befriended Cordelia Chase in order to trick her into making a wish. Blaming the Slayer Buffy Summers for everything that was wrong in her life, Cordelia wished that Buffy had never come to Sunnydale, which transported her to a grim alternate universe where the Master had risen and both Xander and Willow were vampires. Unfortunately for Anyanka, the Watcher Rupert Giles discovered what was going on and destroyed her amulet, undoing Cordelia's wish and rendering Anya powerless and mortal. (Episode: The Wish) As punishment for her failure, D'Hoffryn refused to restore her powers, so Anya was forced to live out her life as a mortal and powerless human. Determined to get her powers back, Anya managed to trick Willow, who was a witch, into helping her retrieve her amulet from the alternate universe. Instead, they accidentally pulled out the vampire version of Willow, who proceeded to cause mayhem in Sunnydale. When Anya realized her mistake, she allied herself with the vampire Willow, but they were both captured by Buffy and the Scooby Gang, who forced her to send the vampire Willow back to her own reality. (Episode: Doppelgängland) Anya continued to live her life as a high school student and, despite her abhorrence of all men, she yearned to have a date for the prom. She asked Xander to the dance because she knew he had no other date and he reluctantly accepted for the same reason. (Episode: The Prom) After the prom, Anya began to develop feelings for Xander and asked him out again shortly before graduation. However, these plans were put on hold when he told her that the Mayor of Sunnydale, Richard Wilkins, was planning to ascend to an Old One form on graduation day and massacre the town. Although she offered some advice to the Scoobies regarding the Ascension she witnessed in 1199, Anya was too afraid to help them fight the Mayor and decided to leave town. Xander refused to abandon his friends, so she left without him. (Episode: Graduation Day, Part One)
Despite leaving, she found herself still infatuated with Xander and several months later she returned to Sunnydale. (Episode: The Harsh Light of Day) She persuaded him to sleep with her in the hopes of getting him out of her system, but it did not work and instead they began dating. Xander invited her to a Halloween party and she decided to wear a bunny suit as her scary costume, revealing her trademark fear of rabbits. (Episode: Fear, Itself) When the demon Gachnar attacked the party, Anya saved Xander and his friends by going to Giles for help. Worried that Xander did not really care about her, Anya was moved when he mistakenly believed that she had been killed by Spike and proceeded to beat the vampire up. (Episode: Hush) The couple began to argue over where their relationship was going, but when a party they were attending was attacked by a poltergeist, Anya risked her life and braved painful injuries to rescue Xander from being drowned. (Episode: Where the Wild Things Are) Anya's lack of social skills soon made her unpopular with the rest of the Scooby Gang, particularly Willow, who had little trust for the ex-demon. However, Anya continued to help them for Xander's sake and was eventually accepted as an official member. Anya supported Xander during the brief period when Spike's manipulations created a rift between the Scoobies. (Episode: Primeval) Soon after Giles took over the Magic Box, a local occult store, Anya was hired as an employee because of her interest and talent for finances. (Episode: No Place Like Home)
Overview
Personality and attributes
In appearance, Anya Jenkins was a human woman of average build with fair skin, long hair (often blonde or auburn depending on the season), and a youthful face that belied her true demonic centuries. As a demon, however, her form as Anyanka was monstrous, with a distorted visage marked by ridged features, protruding veins, and a fearsome expression meant to terrify those who summoned her. As a Vengeance Demon, she earned the title of Patron Saint of Scorned Women. (Episode: The Wish)
Anya’s personality combined centuries of demon-born ruthlessness with a uniquely blunt, literal approach to human interaction. She displayed little regard for tact, often saying exactly what she thought without filter, leading to moments of both humor and discomfort. Despite her apparent lack of empathy, Anya demonstrated loyalty to those close to her, especially Xander, and came to value friendship and companionship even if she expressed these sentiments awkwardly. At her core, her personality balanced greed, self-interest, and a pragmatic worldview with a slow but genuine growth toward compassion and selflessness.
Anya frequently reminisced about her life as a vengeance demon, describing graphic punishments and murders she had inflicted in over a millennium, most of which could be viewed as disproportionate retribution. She often appeared oddly wistful when thinking of her past deeds as a vengeance demon and even seemed to miss that stage of her life sometimes. However, when she did return as a vengeance demon, she was overwhelmed by guilt after granting a wish that left 12 frat boys dead, leading her to ultimately turn her back on vengeance. (Episode: Selfless)
Powers and abilities
As a vengeance demon, Anya possessed vast magical powers tied to her amulet, which allowed her to grant wishes, reshape reality, and inflict suffering on men who wronged women. She could teleport, withstand injury, and command supernatural strength. Once stripped of her powers, however, she reverted to the physical abilities of a normal human woman, lacking the enhanced durability or magic she once commanded. Nevertheless, her centuries of experience and knowledge of demonic hierarchies gave her an edge in strategy and survival even without her supernatural gifts. (Episode: The Wish)
Her source of power was the Symbol of Anyanka that was an amulet with the power to grant dark wishes for the amusement of the pestilent deities. (Episode: The Wish)
She had an infinite level of power when granting wishes, being able to manipulate reality and create alternate universes. (Episode: The Wish)
Notes
- Anya Jenkins was created by Joss Whedon and Marti Noxon with her being portrayed by actor Emma Caulfield where she featured in the setting of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Appearances
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer:
External Links
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