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Willow
Willow is a character portrayed by actress Alyson Hannigan on the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. A fixture of the show since it's premiere in 1997, Willow Rosenberg was originally conceived as the quintessential high school nerd, a bookworm, "A" student, and computer whiz shunned by the more popular girls. All that changed when she met the series' protagonist Buffy Summers and found herself facing the many vampires, demons, and other creatures which regularly flocked to the town of Sunnydale, California. Willow's original function in what came to be known both on the show and among its fans as "the Scooby Gang" was to assist Buffy's mentor Rupert Giles in researching the supernatural baddies. This eventually led to experiments with magic, through which Willow found herself to be an especially talented and powerful witch. After some romantic flirtations which included fellow Scooby Gang member Xander Harris and even a cybernetic version of the demon Moloch, Willow was involved for two seasons with Oz, played by Seth Green, who was lead guitarist for the local band Dingoes Ate My Babies. As it turned out, Oz was also a werewolf. Following her breakup with Oz, Willow in the fourth season of the series met Tara, another witch with powers nearly equal to her own. Friendship developed between the two which rapidly developed into love. Willow thus became the first lesbian character on a popular television series which catered mostly to teens and young adults. The lesbian factor did nothing to diminish the series' popularity and in fact enhanced it with a growing gay audience. Far from sensationalist and sordid, the relationship between Willow and Tara was presented in a very mature and matter-of-fact manner, with the two witches supporting, comforting, protecting and confiding in each other, just as persons, gay and straight, do in real life relationships. Their lesbianism is presented as just one aspect of their characters, rather than the where all and be all of their existence. One is left wondering why a series such as Buffy is able to present gay characters and relationships in this manner, while more "serious" and "realistic" television series apparently cannot. In the 2001 - 2002 season, after a brief separation caused by Willow's abuse of her powers, Tara and Willow were reconciled, until Tara was killed by a stray bullet intended for Buffy, which sent Willow on a magical murderous rampage. The season ended with Willow relenting in her quest for vengeance, but with her heart, her power, and perhaps also her mind broken. The series' final season had Willow finding love once again in the form of "potential Slayer" Kennedy, a tough young woman who, as part of a small army of potential Slayers, helped Buffy in her final battle against the great evil which had been lurking beneath Sunnydale for centuries, drawing vampires and demons to the town like flies to honey. A later reference on the Buffy spin-off series Angel placed Willow and Kennedy in Brazil, where they were living together in happiness and helping to train some of the thousands of new Vampire Slayers activated around the world during that final conflict. Links:
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