
Ethan Rayne, played by Robin Sachs, is a character in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Ethan is a foe to Rupert Giles. The two were friends who met in London after Giles had dropped out of Oxford. The group practiced small magics for pleasure and gain, until Ethan and Ripper discovered something bigger: the demon known as Eyghon, or the Sleepwalker. Tattooing themselves with the Mark of Eyghon, they would take turns falling asleep, and the rest of the group would summon the demon into the sleeper. According to Giles, it was an extraordinary high, a euphoric feeling of power, but was also incredibly risky. When Eyghon took control of Randall, one of their group, the others tried to exorcise the demon, resulting in Randall's death. Giles was changed by the event, leaving London and returning to the Watchers' Council. Ethan, on the other hand, went in the opposite direction, delving deeper into the black arts.
Ethan was first introduced in the second-season episode "Halloween" as the seemingly benevolent owner of a costume shop. Ethan curses his costumes in the name of the Roman god Janus, so that the wearer becomes whatever they are dressed as. Later that season, in the episode "The Dark Age", Ethan has been having dreams of Eyghon, and the fate of the others who wear The Mark of Eyghon, which acts as a beacon for the demon to locate them, kill them, and possess each corpse in turn to hunt his next victim with. Ethan knocks Buffy unconscious, and tattoos the Mark of Eyghon on the back of her neck and removing his own. The substitution works, and the demon loses interest in him, instead going after Buffy Summers. But Giles arrives, and then her friends, who stop Eyghon from killing both of them.
During the third-season episode "Band Candy", the vampire Mr. Trick, in the employ of Mayor Richard Wilkins III, calls on Ethan's services to curse candy bars that are distributed to adults through Sunnydale High School students. The curse on the chocolate makes adults act as if they are teenagers, leaving many areas of the city unprotected, including the hospital from which a tribute of small babies needs to be taken. Buffy and Giles uncover the plot, and stop Mr. Trick and Ethan (who claims ignorance of the nature of the tribute), but they both escape.
In the fourth season, Ethan returns to Sunnydale in the episode "A New Man". Discovered lurking in a crypt by Giles, he talks him out of a promised beating, and instead, they go for a drink together. Ethan warns Giles that the Initiative is throwing the worlds out of balance, which goes "way beyond chaos", into "one hell of a fight". Giles doesn't seem to take the warning seriously, instead being somewhat envious of the Initiative. After spending the night reminiscing and drinking with Ethan, Giles wakes the next morning in the form of a Fyarl demon. After being forced to reverse the spell, Ethan is arrested by the Initiative, who apparently place him in military custody pending determination of his status, before sending him to a rehabilitation facility in Nevada. Afterwards, despite not trusting Ethan, Giles had Buffy to be cautious with the Initiative, eventually leading the Scooby Gang to discover its corruption and dangerous plans.