Faith Lehane is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Played by actress Eliza Dushku, Faith was introduced in the third season of Buffy and was a focus of that season's overarching plot. She returned for shorter story arcs on Buffy and its spin-off, Angel. The character's story is continued in the comic book series Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, and she also appears in apocryphal material such as other comic books and novels. Faith was set to receive her own spin-off television series after the final season of Buffy, but Eliza Dushku declined the offer, and the series was never made. The character later co-stars in the 25-issue comic book Angel & Faith beginning in August 2011 under the banner of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Nine, the story taking place mostly in London and the surrounding area. Seven years after the character's creation, Whedon granted her the surname Lehane for a role-playing game and subsequent material. The last issue of Season Eight was the first source officially confirmed to be canon that referred to Faith by her full name.
Faith is a Slayer: a girl endowed with supernatural abilities and destined to battle evil creatures such as vampires and demons. Created as a foil to the protagonist, Buffy Summers, she is a Slayer who comes from a damaged background and often makes the wrong decision. Initially an ally to the main characters, events take a toll on Faith's sanity and she slips into a villainous role. Later storylines show her feeling remorse for her past crimes, and with the benevolent vampire Angel's help she eventually rejoins the side of good in the hopes of achieving redemption.
Eliza Dushku later portrayed Echo in the television series Dollhouse, also created by Joss Whedon and produced by Jane Espenson.
Television[]
In Buffy the Vampire Slayer season three, Faith arrives in Sunnydale, having been activated as the Slayer by the death of Kendra (Bianca Lawson) (who was activated by Buffy's temporary death in the first season) in the episode "Becoming, Part One". Coming from a traumatic and abusive background, Faith tries to fit in with Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and her friends, but becomes increasingly isolated and bitter as the season progresses. A major turning point for the character occurs in the mid-season episode "Bad Girls"; while trying to show Buffy the fun side of slaying, Faith accidentally kills Deputy Mayor Allan Finch (Jack Plotnick), a human being whom she mistakes for a vampire. Feeling more alienated than ever, she betrays the Scooby Gang and allies herself with the villainous Mayor of Sunnydale (Harry Groener), eventually forming a sincere father-daughter relationship with him. After Faith tries to murder Buffy's vampire lover Angel (David Boreanaz) under the Mayor's orders, the two Slayers finally battle it out in the season finale, a confrontation which leaves Faith alive but comatose.
Faith returns to Buffy for two episodes in the fourth season. Waking up from her coma, she seeks revenge on Buffy by switching their bodies using a mystical device called the Draconian Katra left to her by the now-deceased Mayor. As Buffy is taken into custody by the Watchers' Council for crimes she did not commit, Faith discovers for the first time what it is like to be surrounded by loving friends and family, and Buffy starts to understand Faith despite being upset with her predicament. After feeling obliged to rescue a church full of people from vampires, Faith battles Buffy once again, expressing extreme self-hatred before being returned to her own body. The storyline is continued in the first season of spin-off series Angel, as Faith escapes to Los Angeles and is hired by Wolfram & Hart to assassinate Angel. Instead, she plots an intricate plan to have Angel kill her, but Angel convinces her to face the consequences of her actions, bonded with her as a friend and ally due to their similarities, and helps her on the path to redemption. Faith hands herself over to the police and she is sentenced to prison, where Angel later visits her.
In Angel season four, Angel is reverted to the evil Angelus after having his soul removed. Faith is approached by her former Watcher, Wesley Wyndam-Pryce (Alexis Denisof), who informs her of Angelus's presence, sparking her to break out of prison and help them. Wanting to help Angel the way he helped her, Faith injects herself with a mystical drug and feeds herself to Angelus in order to incapacitate him so that their allies can work to restore his soul. She nearly dies from the drug, but during a psychic mind walk, Angel persuades her subconscious not to give up and that life is worth living.
Afterwards, a recovered Faith travels back to Sunnydale, where she plays a significant role in the battle against the First Evil in the final season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In these episodes, she reconciles with Buffy, although their relationship is tested when the Potential Slayers appoint Faith as their leader over Buffy. This decision later proves disastrous when Faith's plan leads them into a trap, leaving several girls dead. She and the survivors are saved by Buffy, and the two finally make peace with one another. After a one-night stand with school principal Robin Wood (D.B. Woodside), the two begin a romantic relationship when they both survive the battle in the series finale. Faith was set to receive her own spin-off following the end of Buffy, which, according to Tim Minear, would have featured Faith "probably on a motorcycle, crossing the Earth, trying to find her place in the world." However, Eliza Dushku chose to take other offers for her post-Buffy career.
Literature[]
Faith made appearances in various Buffy and Angel comic books and novels. In the Buffy the Vampire Slayer comic book story "Haunted", an imprisoned Faith reveals to Angel her memories of being in a coma between Buffy seasons three and four; she shared a psychic link with the Mayor's spirit and could see him attacking people through his eyes. "Note from the Underground" sees Faith being temporarily released from jail into Angel's custody, in order to help Buffy defeat the demonic fascists, the Scourge. Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Faith Trials, Vol. 1 is a novelization of Buffy season three episodes which center around Faith, including "Faith, Hope & Trick", "Bad Girls", and "Consequences". These episodes focus specifically on Faith's arrival in Sunnydale, and her subsequent turn to the dark side following the death of the Deputy Mayor. Faith appeared prominently in her own 2006 novel Go Ask Malice: A Slayer's Diary by Robert Joseph Levy, which elaborates on Faith's back-story in South Boston and how she came to be the Slayer. Written in diary format, it fleshes out many areas of Faith's past which were only alluded to in the show, such as her alcoholic mother's abuse, her previous relationships, and her first Watcher's gruesome death at the hands of the vampire Kakistos. Author Robert Joseph Levy describes writing the book, "I wanted to explore the choices she made and the choices that were taken away from her, and how they affected her mental state and her development from Potential to Chosen before she arrived." Expanded Universe material such as this is not usually considered canonical unless otherwise stated.
Faith is featured in the ongoing comic book, Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight (2007–11), which serves as a canonical continuation of the television series. In the storyline "No Future For You", Faith goes undercover on a mission from Giles to assassinate rogue Slayer Genevieve "Gigi" Savidge, who plans to usurp Buffy's position as leader to the Slayers. Instead, Faith forms an unexpected connection with Gigi and finds herself torn between her new friend and her old enemy. When Gigi discovers her true identity, Faith unintentionally kills her in battle, and the arc ends with Faith finding a new purpose alongside Giles, helping slayers so they won't go down the path she and Gigi did. Faith and Giles later reappear over a year later in "Safe", which recounts one of their missions in Germany. Faith reconvenes with Buffy to face the threats of the villain Twilight in "Retreat", and is captured alongside Giles and Andrew by Twilight. As such, she is witness to the reveal that Twilight is in fact Angel in "Twilight, Part II". In the final story arc, "Last Gleaming", Faith battles in the ruins of Sunnydale alongside other Scooby Gang members and Slayers. Underground however, Angel—possessed by the Twilight entity—snaps Giles' neck in order to prevent the destruction of its power source; a grief-stricken Buffy destroys it however, Angel is freed from Twilight's possession, and magic is mostly cut off from the universe. In the final issue, set some time later, per Giles' will, all of his worldly assets, save a book, have been left to Faith. In Faith's care is a distraught Angel, whom she intends to rehabilitate.
Following Season Eight, Faith received her own title in Angel & Faith (2011–2013), a companion series to Season Nine. The story depicts Angel and Faith, as residents in Giles' London home, attending to his unfinished business and fighting the forces of evil in London while Angel covertly pursues a plan to resurrect Giles. Faith takes on the role of mentor to a group of Slayers, but those relationships are strained by her friendship with Angel. Ultimately, the group are successful in resurrecting Giles (albeit as a young boy), as well as averting the apocalypse. The story ends with Faith deciding to take some time alone to find herself. She is next seen in Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Ten (2014–2016), when she brings Giles to reconnect with Buffy, and is hurt when Giles coldly tells her that his first priority is Buffy. In the accompanying second volume of Angel & Faith, Faith initially finds a home for herself in Kennedy's Slayer private security firm, and while working with them, is troubled by her mission to rescue Riley Finn, whom she slept with while posing as Buffy some years ago. Ultimately, she returns to London to fight alongside Angel against the ancient demon Archaeus, who had been terrorising London.