Wesley Wyndam-Pryce (also spelled Wyndam-Price and Wyndham-Price) is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. Played by Alexis Denisof, Wesley first appeared in the fourteenth episode of Buffy's third season in 1999, appearing in nine episodes before moving over to spin-off series Angel where he became a main character for all five seasons. Following Angel's final season, the character's story is continued in the 2007 canonical comic book series Angel: After the Fall.
Wesley is introduced as a member of the Watchers' Council — an organization which trains Slayers to fight monsters such as vampires and demons. Created as an irritating foil for the character of Rupert Giles, he was intended to be killed off shortly after his first appearance, but the character was popular with his creators and television viewers, and was instead written into Angel, in which he joined a supernatural detective agency. Over the course of Angel, Wesley went through dramatic character developments, becoming darker and less comedic.
Wesley is introduced in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer season three (1998–1999) episode "Bad Girls" as the new Watcher of Buffy Summers and Faith Lehane. Pompous and ineffective, he fails to elicit any respect from either his Slayers or his predecessor, Rupert Giles, all of whom frequently ridicule and undermine him. He develops a crush on high school senior Cordelia Chase, and their mutual flirting throughout the season culminates in a pair of awkward kisses in the finale "Graduation Day, Part Two". When Faith goes rogue after accidentally killing a human being, the Scooby Gang neglect to inform Wesley, and his subsequent interference ruins Faith's brief chance at redemption. When Wesley fails to convince the Watchers' Council to help save the life of her vampire lover Angel, an enraged Buffy severs all ties with them. Despite this, Wesley offers his assistance in the fight against the Mayor, proving entirely useless in battle when he is knocked down almost instantly.
Wesley reappears in the first season (1999–2000) of spin-off show Angel, in the episode "Parting Gifts". Introduced as a self-proclaimed "rogue demon-hunter", Wesley reveals that he was fired from the Watchers' Council for incompetence, but is soon accepted into supernatural detective agency Angel Investigations, working alongside Angel and Cordelia (effectively filling the gap left by the death of Allen Francis Doyle. When Faith is hired by evil law firm Wolfram & Hart to assassinate Angel, Wesley is kidnapped and tortured by his former charge, until Angel forces Faith to take responsibility for her actions. Although still bitter towards her and doubtful of her chances at redemption, Wesley proves his loyalty to Angel by betraying his former colleagues at the Watchers' Council to protect Faith. In the second season (2000–2001), Wesley embarks on a romantic relationship with a woman named Virginia Bryce after helping to prevent her father from sacrificing her to a demon. When Angel descends into darkness and fires the team, Wesley continues Angel Investigations with Cordelia and Charles Gunn. Having overcome his cowardice of earlier episodes, he gets himself shot trying to protect Gunn and spends the next two episodes in a wheelchair; this injury also leads to the demise of his relationship with Virginia, who becomes disturbed by his dangerous lifestyle. When Angel returns to the fold, Wesley is appointed team leader, but feels inferior due to his father's berating and Angel's habit of taking charge. However, when put in charge of a rebellion in the demon dimension Pylea, Wesley proves to be an effective, albeit ruthless, leader.
In Angel's third season (2001–2002), Wesley's path becomes filled with tragedies and difficult choices. Just as he starts developing romantic feelings for his teammate Winifred "Fred" Burkle, he finds himself mystically influenced to kill her after a demon influences him to become homicidally misogynistic. While studying the birth of Angel's infant son Connor, Wesley discovers a prophecy which claims that Angel will kill the baby. Intending to take him to safety, Wesley betrays his friends and kidnaps Connor, a decision which has disastrous consequences when he has his throat slit and the baby is kidnapped into a hell dimension by Angel's sworn enemy, Holtz. Angel then attempts to kill him while he is in recovery at the hospital. Alienated from Angel Investigations, a recovered Wesley forms his own team to fight evil, but maintains an interest in his former friends' affairs. He also begins a sexual relationship with Wolfram & Hart lawyer Lilah Morgan, who tries to convince him to join the firm. In the fourth season (2002–2003), Angel is rescued and revived by Wesley after being sunk to the bottom of the ocean by his now-adolescent son Connor. Wesley eventually returns to the team full-time to help them battle the Beast, making difficult decisions such as seeking the aid of Angel's evil alter ego Angelus and breaking Faith out of prison. Having developed genuine feelings for Lilah, he mourns her when she is killed by Cordelia, now possessed by the entity known as Jasmine (Gina Torres). In the season finale, following the defeat of Jasmine, Wesley joins the rest of Angel Investigations in taking over Wolfram & Hart in the hopes that they can turn it into a power for good.
Season five (2003–2004) sees Wesley suffer yet more loss. In the episode "Lineage", Wesley's father makes his first appearance after being alluded to in earlier episodes. Roger Wyndam-Pryce is revealed to have sinister intentions when he tries to steal Angel's free will and threatens to murder Fred; Wesley responds by shooting him dead, only to discover he was not actually his father, but a cyborg copy. Despite the deception having been revealed, he is visibly shaken by his willingness to end his father's life to save another. After being in love with her for almost two seasons, Wesley finally gets together with Fred in the subsequent episode "Smile Time", only to watch her die in the next episode when she is taken over by the ancient demon Illyria. He retaliates by killing Knox, the man responsible for raising Illyria, and stabbing Gunn after discovering he played an indirect role in Fred's death. Descending into alcoholism, Wesley holds onto Illyria as the only thing he has left of Fred, helping her understand the human world she is unfamiliar with. He inadvertently restores his and his friends' memories of Connor when he smashes the Orlon Window, thinking that Angel had betrayed his trust. Wesley visibly feels guilty after remembering how he betrayed his friends by taking Connor from Angel and later apologizes to Gunn for stabbing him. Towards the end of the season, Angel proposes an attack against the Circle of the Black Thorn, a powerful group of demons under the employ of the Wolfram & Hart's Senior Partners. In the show's final episode, Wesley does battle with the warlock Cyvus Vail and is mortally wounded. He spends his dying moments with Illyria at his side, finally agreeing to let the demon take the form of Fred, thus allowing Wesley, in some way, to say goodbye to the woman he loved.
Joss Whedon revealed in an interview that Wesley was originally intended to survive and appear in Angel season six, but he was inspired to kill Wesley off after being pitched the idea of his death scene by one of the script writers.
Wesley appears in comic books and novels based on the Buffy and Angel television series. He appears in numerous Angel novels as a member of Angel Investigations, but has a more prominent role in some; in Stranger to the Sun he falls under a mystical slumber after receiving a mysterious package in the mail and becomes trapped in a nightmare, while Book of the Dead sees his love of reading get the better of him after being sucked into a book about the occult. The comic book "Wesley: Spotlight" focuses on Wesley's struggles to save the life of Fred's love interest and (unbeknownst to Wesley) future murderer, Knox. The Lost Slayer is a series of Buffy novels set in an alternate future where Wesley is Watcher to the current Slayer, Anna.
Angel: After the Fall (2007-2011), a canonical comic book continuation of the television series, reveals that Wesley was unable to move on after his death due to the standard perpetuity clause in his Wolfram & Hart contract. Now incorporeal, Wesley acts as the last remaining link to Senior Partners, who have sent Angel and all of Los Angeles to hell as punishment for their attack in season five. Following the destruction of the Wolfram & Hart building at the hands of a now vampiric Gunn, Wesley's ghost fades away. He convinces the White Room to send him back to Hell, where his sudden appearance causes Illyria to change back and forth between Illyria and Fred's personae. When Angel is confronted by Gunn, now a deluded vampire who believes he is the champion of the Shanshu prophecy, Wesley delivers Angel a vision from the Senior Partners explaining that the prophecy has always concerned Angel. When Angel realizes that the Senior Partners need him alive for their plans, he devises a plan to get himself killed, thus forcing them to rewind time to the last moment before Los Angeles was sent to hell. However, this would not reverse Wesley's death. Wesley is resigned to his fate, believing that he has nothing more to live for now that Fred is gone, and walks away, but not before asking Spike to take care of Illyria. In the new timeline, Angel names a wing of the Los Angeles public library in memory of Wesley and Fred.